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PRINTED  BY  JAMES  FULLERTON,  51  S.  THIRD  STREET, 


And  Sold  at  the  Offices  of  the  PENNSYLVANIAN,  78  S.  Third  street , and  EVENING 
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Orders  addressed  to  James  Fullerton,  Philadelphia , will  receive  prompt  attention.  • 


‘No  North,  no  South,  .no  East,  no  West,  under  the  Constitution— but  a sacred  maintenance 
of  the  common  bond  and  true  devotion  to  the  common  brotherhood.” 


THE 

BilOCMTIC  TEXT-BOOK. 

CONTAINING  THE 

LIVES  OF  PIEECE 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 

toljig  mtir  UEUmorratic 


GEN,  FKANKLIN  PIERCE, 

THE 

^Democratic  <£aniiiiratc  for  jpreoi&ent. 


How  pleasing  is  the  task  of  writing 
the  history  of  a patriot  and  statesman, 
whose  life  has  been  marked  by  deeds  of 
usefulness  and  benevolence  towards  his 
fellow  men ; whose  character  bears  not  a 
stain  that  a malicious  and  unscrupulous 
enemy  can  discover. 

Gen.  Franklin  Pierce,  though  oc- 
cupying many  public  positions,  and  being 
always  prominently  before  the  people, 
has  won  for  himself  the  respect  — the 
love  of  all  whose  good  fortune  it  has 
been  to  know  him.  And  the  high  honor 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  Democratic 
Convention  which  assembled  at  Balti- 
more on  the  2d  of  June,  1852,  though 
hailed  all  over  this  vast  country  with  un- 
paralleled enthusiasm,  has  been  no  where 
received  with  the  grateful  emotions  it 
has  met  from  those  who  have  known  him 
longest  and  best.  The  newspapers  of 
the  day  tell  us  that  the  nomination  of 
its  citizen  for  the  highest  office  in  the 
world,  literally  set  all  the  towns  of  New 
Hampshire  “in  a blaze  of  excitement.” 
Guns  were  fired,  bells  rung,  speeches 
made,  one  universal  and  prolonged  shout, 
the  harbinger  of  a still  greater  triumph, 
rent  the  air.  In  the  evening,  illumina- 
tions and  bonfires  attested  that  the  grati- 
fication of  those  who  knew  Frank  Pierce 
was  still  unexhausted. 

“Is  there  fire  anywhere?”  asked  one 
of  the  frightened . “Yes,”  replied  a 
youth,  “ there’s  a devil  of  a fire  in  the 
rear! ” 

The  father  of  the  Democratic  nomi- 
nee, the  late  Gen.  Benjamin  Pierce,  was 
in  an  eminent  degree  distinguished  by 


various  marks  of  the  confidence  and  re- 
spect of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  de- 
scended from  a respectable  Irish  family 
which  originally  emigrated  from  London- 
derry in  the  north  of  Ireland.  Benjamin 
was  born  in  the  year  1757,  at  Chelms- 
ford, a town  near  Lowell,  in  Massachu- 
setts. His  early  life  was  devoted  to 
agricultural  pursuits. 

On  the  memorable  19th  April,  1775, 
the  revolutionary  committee  of  Boston 
sent  out  couriers  in  every  direction,  and 
one  of  these  messengers  came  up  to  the 
farm  house  while  young  Pierce,  then  only 
eighteen  years  of  age,  was  ploughing  in 
his  father’s  field,  and  having  delivered  a 
brief  message,  hastened  on  to  arouse  the 
country  to  action.  It  was  the  news  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington  which  the  stran- 
ger was  commissioned  to  proclaim,  and 
which,  like  a trumpet’s  vqice,  roused  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  land.  Young 
Pierce  left  the  plough,  and  shouldering 
his  musket,  proceeded  on  foot  towards 
Lexington,  where  he  found,  upon  his 
arrival,  that  the  troops  had  fallen  back 
on  Boston.  Enlisting  as  a private  sol- 
dier in  the  army,  he  was  assigned  to  the 
regiment  commanded  by  Col.  Brooks. 
In  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  on  the  17th 
of  June  following,  Pierce  took  a part, 
and  from  that  time  to  the  close  of  the 
Devolution,  he  continued  in  the  service 
of  the  country,  and  followed  the  fortune 
of  his  regiment,  fighting  when  it  was 
called  into  action,  and  attracting  the  no- 
tice, and  winning  the  commendation  of 
his  superior  officers  for  his  gallantry  and 
good  conduct;  by  this  means  he  rose 


4 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


gradually  to  the  command  of  a company, 
so  that  at  the  disbanding  of  the  revolu- 
tionary army,  in  1784,  he  held  the  rank 
of  captain. 

He  then  settled  in  New  Hampshire, 
and  was  subsequently  a member  of  the 
governor’s  council,  high  sheriff  of  his 
county,  governor  of  New  Hampshire  in 
1827  and  1829,  and  died  April  1, 1839, 
aged  81  years.  He  possessed  great  force 
of  character  and  knowledge  of  men,  was 
a thorough  republican,  was  highly  re- 
spected by  all  parties,  and  exercised  a 
large  influence  on  public  affairs.  On 
the  conclusion  of  the  revolutionary  war 
he  settled  in  Hillsborough,  which  then 
was  almost  a wilderness.  He  married 
twice,  and  had  by  his  first  wife  one 
daughter,  the  widow  of  General  John 
McNeil,  and  by  his  second  wife,  five 
sons  and  three  daughters.  One  of  the 
daughters  died  in  infancy,  and  the  other 
two  died  in  1837,  leaving  families.  Of 
the  sons,  the  oldest,  Benjamin  K.,  was 
a gallant  officer  in  the  army,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  Florida  war; 
and  the  second,  also,  was  connected  with 
the  army,  and  attained  the  rank  of  brevet 
colonel.  These  are  both  dead.  Another 
died  in  early  manhood.  The  remaining 
sons  are  Col.  Henry  D.  Pierce,  of  Hills- 
borough, a farmer  of  great  personal  worth 
and  of  much  wealth,  who  has  represented 
his  town  in  the  legislature;  and  Gen. 
Franklin  Pierce,  soon  to  be  President 
of  the  United  States. 

Endowed  by  nature  with  a strong 
mind,  Governor  Pierce  had  overcome  the 
obstacles  springing  from  a want  of  edu- 
cation, and,  by  practice  and  perseve- 
rance, had  acquired  a knowledge  of  busi- 
ness, and  a skill  in  the  conduct  of  pub- 
lic affairs.  It  was  not  from  his  high1 
public  station  that  he  acquired  a com- 
manding influence,  but  from  his  integrity 
of  character,  his  benevolence,  hospitality, 
and  love  of  justice.  Cheerful  in  his  dis- 
position, and  delighting  to  contribute  to 
the  happiness  of  all  around  him,  youth- 
ful vivacity  found  in  him  a congenial 
spirit,  while  sedate  manhood  and  sober 
age  discovered  in  his  conduct  nothing  to 
reproach. 

When  elected  sheriff  of  Hillsborough 
county,  Pierce  found  in  Amherst  jail 
three  aged  prisoners,  confined  for  debt, 


one  of  whom  had  groaned  in  confinement 
for  almost  four  years.  Generously  pay- 
ing the  debts  of  the  whole,  Pierce  liber- 
ated them  from  custody,  with  many  kind 
words  of  sympathy  and  advice. 

Franklin  Pierce,  worthy  son  of  so 
noble  a sire,  was  born  in  Hillsborough, 
November  23,  1804.  He  was  sent  to 
the  neighboring  schools  of  Hancock  and 
Francestown — living  in  the  latter  place 
with  the  mother  of  the  late  Levi  Wood- 
bury, to  whom  he  pays  a grateful  tribute 
for  the  salutary  influence  she  exercised 
over  his  early  boyhood.  His  academic 
studies  were  pursued  at  Exeter  Academy. 
In  1820,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  he  en- 
tered Bowdoin  College,  from  which  he 
graduated,  with  credit,  in  1824.  Dr. 
Calvin  E.  Stowe  was  one  of  his  class. 
His  agreeable  manners,  manly  bearing, 
social  turn,  and  fine  talents,  made  him  a 
general  favorite;  and  among  his  inti- 
mate friends  were  Hon.  James  Bell,  of 
Manchester,  and  Dr.  Luther  Y.  Bell,  the 
head  of  the  McLean  Asylum,  of  Somer- 
ville, Nathaniel  Hawthorn,  Jonathan  Gil- 
ley, and  James  Mason,  son  of  Jeremiah 
Mason.  Three  years  were  subsequently 
spent  in  preparatory  studies  in  the  offices 
of  Hon.  Edmund  Parker,  of  Amherst, 
and  of  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  of  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  and  in  the  law  school  of 
Judge  Samuel  Howe,  of  Northampton, 
Massachusetts.  The  productions  of  Mr. 
Pierce  bear  witness  that  these  early  and 
priceless  advantages  for  thorough  culture 
were  well  improved ; while  the  admiration 
and  friendship  entertained  for  him  by 
college  cotemporaries  who  subsequently 
became  ornaments  of  their  profession, 
was  but  the  commencement  of  that  favor 
which  he  has  since  uniformly  attracted 
towards  him. 

Mr.  Pierce,  in  1827,  opened  a law 
office  in  Hillsborough,  opposite  the  resi- 
dence of  Governor  Pierce.  At  this  time 
the  latter  enjoyed  a wide  and  just  popu- 
larity in  New  Hampshire,  and  this  year 
he  was  elected  governor.  The  succeed- 
ing year,  in  consequence  of  the  division 
in  the  republican  party  on  the  presiden- 
tial question — a part  declaring  for  Gen: 
Jackson,,  and  a part  for  Mr.  Adams— 
Governor  Pierce,  who  was  a “Jackson 
man/’  was  defeated.  The  fruits  of  this 
anti-democratic  victory  were  the  election 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


5 


by  a small  majority,  of  John  Bell,  Go- 
vernor, and  of  Hon.  Samuel  Bell,  United 
States  senator.  The  next  year,  however, 
Governor  Pierce  was  re-elected.  It  was 
in  the  midst  of  these  stirring  scenes  that 
Mr.  Pierce  commenced  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  had  to  favor  his  ad- 
vancement in  business  relations  and  in 
political  life,  it  is  true,  the  wide  influence 
of- his  father;  but  the  great  success  that 
immediately  attended  him  would  have 
been  but  transient,  had  he  not  have  ma-  ! 
nifested  ability,  industry,  energy,  and  j 
fidelity.  These  won  for  him  a reputa- 
tion as  wide  as  it  was  solid. 

Mr.  Pierce  took  a zealous  part  in 
politics,  and  in  1829  he  was  elected  re- 
presentative from  his  native  town,  and 
again  the  three  successive  years.  This 
was  an  era  in  the  political  history  of  New 
Hampshire.  It  was  the  time  when  the 
granite  state  came  boldly  to  the  support 
of  Gen.  Jackson’s  administration.  Ben- 
jamin Pierce,  by  over  two  thousand  ma- 
jority, was  elected  (1829)  governor;  an 
entire  congressional  delegation  in  favor 
of  Jackson’s  administration  was  chosen, 
and  a legislature  was  returned  having 
a handsome  democratic  majority.  The 
votes  for  speaker  in  the  latter,  indicate 
the  strength  of  parties — Mr.  Thornton, 
the  administration  candidate,  received 
128,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  opposition,  101. 
The  next  year  (1880)  the  contest  became 
still  more  animated  and  severe.  Mr. 
Harvey  was  the  democratic  candidate, 
and  Gen.  Upbam  the  whig  candidate; 
and  such  was  the  success  of  the  demo- 
cracy, at  all  points,  that  their  candidate 
received  four  thousand  votes  more  than 
his  opponent.  One  of  the  fruits  of  this 
election,  was  the  return  of  Hon.  Isaac 
Hill  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

Mr.  Pierce  took  a prominent  part  in 
these  contests,  both  in  the  field  and  in 
the  legislature,  and  here  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  political  influence  and  success. 
The  questions  in  which  he  engaged  were 
mostly  local,  but  there  is  one  that  stands 
out  of  a general  and  important  character. 
A convention  of  democratic  republican 
members  was  held  in  Concord,  June  15, 
1830,  and  adopted  an  address  and  reso- 
lutions that  will  stand  out  among  the  im- 
portant political  documents  of  the  time, 
for  their  ability,  clearness,  and  sound- 


ness. They  accurately  define  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Constitution;  clearly  show  how 
the  lavish  system  of  appropriations  by 
the  general  government  lead  “ to  wide- 
spread, general  corruption,  tending  di- 
rectly to  the  consolidation  or  disunion 
of  the  states,  the  destruction  of  demo- 
cratic principles,  and  the  extinction  of 
liberty;”  and  they  thus  early  endorsed 
the  renomination  of  Gen.  Jackson  as  the 
democratic  candidate  for  the  next  presi- 
dential term.  This  was  the  convention 
that  resolved  that  Hon.  Samuel  Bell, 
then  senator,  had  ceased  to  represent 
. the  sentiments  of  a majority  of  his  con- 
I stituents. 

The  New  Hampshire  democrats  the 
succeeding  year  (1831)  nobly  maintained 
their  ground — the  election  resulting  in 
the  full  success  of  their  ticket  for  go- 
vernor and  congress,  while  they  retained 
their  majority  in  the  legislature.  “The 
American  system  of  Henry  Clay,”  say 
the  journals,  “is  dead  and  buried  in  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire.”  It  was  the 
year  that  Mr.  Pierce  was  elected  speaker 
of  the  house,  which  consisted  of  two 
hundred  members;  and  it  shows  the  es- 
timation in  which  he  was  held,  that  he 
received  155  votes,  against  58  for  all 
others.  He  was  also  elected  speaker  in 
1832.  He  discharged  the  duties  of  this 
office  with  great  tact  and  ability,  proving 
himself  to  be  a firm,  courteous,  and  im- 
partial presiding  officer.  Thus,  in  five 
years,  he  attained  an  enviable  position 
among  his  associates;  and  won  it,  not 
by  undermining  rivals,  or  by  adroitness 
in  political  intrigue,  but  by  a firm  adhe- 
rence to  political  principles,  eloquence  in 
debate,  unquestioned  capacity  for  public 
business,  unvarying  courtesy,  and  the 
exhibition  of  frankness  and  manliness 
of  character.  So  honorable  was  his  am- 
bition, that,  while  he  was  ranking  his 
associates,  he  regained  their  love  and 
commanded  their  respect. 

In  1833,  Mr.  Pierce  was  promoted  to 
a wider  sphere  of  action,  being  elected  a 
member  of  Congress  from  his  district. 
He  entered  on  this  field  of  duty  in  a 
period  of  intense  political  excitement, 
indeed,  in  one  of  the  hero  ages  of  the 
American  democracy.  The  United  States 
Bank  was  then  in  the  arena,  making  its 
most  desperate  struggle  to  overcome  the 


6 


LIEE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


government  and  to  perpetuate  its  mono- 
poly ; and  this  by  subsidizing  the  press, 
and  not  unfrequently  tampering  with  the 
integrity  of  public  men.  In  opposition 
to  such-  corruption,  the  indomitable  hero 
of  New  Orleans  was  giving  fresh  proofs 
of  the  force  of  his  character  and  the 
firmness  of  his  patriotism.  In  these  try- 
ing times,  when  not  a few  faltered,  Mr. 
Pierce  proved  himself,  in  Congress,  one 
of  the  most  able  and  reliable  supporters 
of  the  administration.  He  was  not  a 
frequent  debater,  but  rather  a most  in- 
telligent working  member,  giving  prompt 
attention  to  the  business  in  hand ; still, 
when  occasion  required  it,  he  was  ready 
and  willing  to  throw  himself  into  the 
breach,  repel  the  attacks  that  were  made 
by  the  able  men  in  opposition,  and  boldly 
defend  the  old  hero  in  those  patriotic 
and  soul-stirring  speeches  for  which  he 
is  so  celebrated.  To  go  over,  for  four 
years,  his  votes,  and  recall  his  speeches, 
would  be  only  adducing  unnecessary 
proof  that  he  gave  an  unfaltering  sup- 
port to  the  policy  which  has  met  the 
approving  voice  of  a vast  majority  of  the 
American  people.  So  true  was  he  to 
the  democratic  cause,  and  so  agreable 
was  he  in  his  personal  address,  that  the 
President  became  warmly  attached  to 
him,  and  often  invited  him  to  His  fire- 
side and  hospitable  board.  Mr.  Pierce 
also  continued  to  make  warm  friends 
among  his  associates  in  Congress,  while 
he  steadily  advanced  in  the  respect  and 
good-will  of  the  citizens  of  his  native 
state.  He  entered  with  them  heart  and 
soul  into  their  local  political  contests, 
and  the  longer  they  tried  him  the  more 
confidence  did  'they  feel  in  the  purity  of 
his  character  and  the  soundness  of  his 
principles. 

With  such  a reputation,  Mr.  Pierce 
was  elected  by  a large  majority  of  the 
legislature  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  took  his  seat  at  the  extra 
session  summoned  to  convene  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1887 — the  day  of  the  inau- 
guration of  Martin  Van  Buren  as  Pre- 
sident. The  country  was  then  expe- 
riencing the  effects  of  a severe  commer- 
cial revolution,  — the  necessary  conse- 
quence of  an  extraordinary  inflation  of 
credit,  and  a wild  and  wide  speculative 
mania.  To  prevent  the  government,  in 


future,  from  unwisely  stimulating  trade 
by  a use  of  its  deposits  as  a basis  of  dis- 
count, and  to  secure  it  from  again  exn 
periencing  losses  from  a failure  of  banks, 
the  democratic  party  were  boldly  taking 
ground  'in  favor  of  separating  the  mo- 
neys of  the  government  from  the  con- 
cerns of  the  banks.  Thus  the  same 
journal  that  contains  the  accounts  of 
the  extra  session  of  the  Senate,  contained 
letters  from  the  ex-president  at  the  Her- 
mitage, rejoicing  “that  the  democracy 
are  uniting  upon  the  plan  of  separating 
the  government  from  corporations  of  all 
kinds ;”  and  the  New  Hampshire  De- 
mocracy, ever  true  to  the  republican 
cause,  ever  conservative  to  preserve  the 
good  of  our  policy,  and  ever  progressive 
to  adopt  a well-based  experiment  in  de- 
mocratic convention,  promptly  put  forth 
a voice  in  favor  of  this  policy.  It  was 
under  such  auspices  that  Mr.  Pierce,  after 
having  given  the  last  administration  so 
constant  and  effectual  a support,  took  his 
seat  in  the  Senate.  During  his  service  in 
it,  the  array  of  brilliant  names  that  graced 
it,  such  as  had  never  before  been  seen, 
and  will  not  be  seen  again,  made  it  in- 
deed an  illustrious  body.  Calhoun  and 
Webster,  Buchanan  and  Clay,  Wood- 
bury and  Choate,  Grundy  and  Critten- 
den, Wright  and  Southard,  Walker  and 
Preston,  Hives  and  Benton, — to  say  no- 
thing of  others, — were  of  it;  and  the 
encounters  on  questions  as  deep  and 
solemn  as  can  arise  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, were  between  the  intellectual  giants 
of  the  land.  To  serve  for  five  years  in 
such  a school,  constitutes  no  small  train- 
ing in  civil  affairs,  and  was  quite  enough 
to  render  a mind  like  Mr.  Pierce’s  fami- 
liar with  matters  of  government  in  all 
their  varied  and  wide  relationship. 

Mr.  Pierce  served  in  this  body  from 
1887  to  1842,  always  doing  his  share 
of  its  business,  and  at  times  bearing  a 
distinguished  part  in  its  deliberations; 
and  during  the  whole  period  he  gave  a 
cordial  and  unshrinking  support  to  de- 
mocratic measures.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  go  over  his  votes  in  this  body.  As 
an  illustration,  however,  take  the  action 
on  the  Independent  Treasury  Bill,  one 
of  the  test  questions  of  the  day.  At  a 
time  when,  others  faltered  as  to  one  of 
the  most  important  and  salutary  mea- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


7 


sures  ever  adopted,  which  daily  vindi- 
cates its  soundness,  and  which  has  the 
approving  voice  of  the  country,  Mr. 
Pierce’s  voice  was  fearlessly  raised  in 
its  support,  and  his  votes  were  uniformly 
given  with  the  friends  of  the  bill.  He 
served,  among  other  committees,  on  the 
judiciary,  on  military  affairs,  and  on 
pensions;  and  though  he  did  not  occupy 
the  floor  often,  yet  when  he  did  speak, 
it  was  to  the  point,  evincing  thorough 
knowledge  of  his  subject,  cogent  reason- 
ing, and  rare  powers  of  debate. 

The  year  after  his  election  to  the  Sen- 
ate, 1838,  Mr.  Pierce  changed  his  resi- 
dence from  his  native  town  of  Hillsbo- 
rough to  Concord,  the  place  where  he 
now  resides.  In  doing  this  he  sundered 
many  old  and  endearing  ties,  and  his 
friends  and  neighbors  could  not  let  the 
occasion  pass  without  a manifestation 
of  the  respect  and  affection  which  they 
entertained  for  him.  Hence  they  invi- 
ted him  to  a public  dinner.  This,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Pierce  declined.  The  corres- 
pondence on  this  occasion  speaks  for 
itself.  It  surely  was  no  unmeaning  com- 
pliment that  could  call  forth  the  acknow- 
ledgment that  in  the  relation  of  a citizen 
he  had  been  to  them  as  a son  and  a 
brother: — ' 

Hillsborough,  August,  25, 1838. 
Hon.  Franklin  Pierce: 

Sir  — The  democratic  republicans  of 
Hillsborough  embrace  the  opportunity 
your  short  stay  furnishes,  to  tender  to 
you  an  invitation  to  partake  with  them 
of  a public  dinner,  at  such  time  as  may 
be  most  convenient  to  you,  before  you 
take  your  leave  of  Hillsborough. 

In  discharging  the  duty  imposed  upon 
them,  the  committee  beg  leave  to  assure 
you,  that  the  tender  they  make  is  no 
unmeaning  compliment. 

Your  childhood  was  with  them,  and 
so  has  been  your  riper  years.  Educated 
in  their  midst,  one  of  themselves,  the 
ties  that  have  so  long  bound  you  to  them 
cannot  be  easily  sundered ; and  it  would 
be  doing  violence  to  their  feelings  to 
suffer  the  present  occasion  to  pass,  with- 
out an  opportunity  of  calling  up  those 
recollections  that  will  ever  be  to  them  a 
source  of  the  highest  satisfaction. 

You  have  stood  by  them  at  all  times. 
You  have  been  to  them  even  as  a son 


and  a brother.  Their  interests  have  been 
your  interests,  their  feelings  your  feel- 
ings. And  it  is  with  the  sincerest  pleasure 
that  they  offer  you  this  testimonial,  how- 
ever small,  of  the  estimate  they  place 
upon  your  character,  public  and  private. 

The  committee  cannot  but  express 
their  regret  at  the  necessity  which  is 
about  to  separate  you  from  the  republi- 
can citizens  of  Hillsborough.  Long  and 
intimately  have  you  been  known  to  them ; 
and  wherever  you  may  go,  they  beg 
leave  to  assure  you,  that  you  will  carry 
with  you  their  kindest  wishes  for  your 
welfare. 

With  esteem  and  respect,  we  have  the 
honor  to  be  yours,  &c. 

Timothy  Wyman,  &c. 

Hillsborough,  Sept.  15, 1838. 

Gentlemen — Your  letter  in  behalf  of 
the  democratic  republicans  of  Hillsbo- 
rough inviting  me  to  partake  of  a public 
dinner  at  such  time  as  might  suit  my 
convenience,  was  duly  received. 

Sincerely  desirous  of  exchanging  salu- 
tations with  all  my  friends,  before  those 
relations  which  have  so  long  subsisted  be- 
tween us  should  be  severed,  I have  de- 
layed giving  an  answer,  with  the  hope 
that  my  other  engagements  would  allow 
me  this  pleasure.  In  this  expectation, 
I am  sorry  to  say,  I find  myself  disap- 
pointed. I have  received  too  many  sub- 
stantial evidences  of  the  kind  regard  and 
true  friendship  of  the  citizens  of  Hills- 
borough to  need  any  new  assurance  of 
their  partiality,  and  yet  I would  not  dis- 
guise the  fact,  that  your  testimony  at 
parting,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  my 
duties  in  public  and  private  life  have  been 
discharged  is  flattering  to  my  feelings, 
especially  so,  as  coming  from  those  who 
have  known  me  longest  and  most  inti- 
mately. 

I shall  leave  Hillsborough  with  no 
ordinary  regret.  There  are  a thousand 
reasons  why  it  cannot  be  otherwise — I 
have  hitherto  known  no  other  home. 

Here  have  been  passed  many  of  the 
happiest  days  and  months  of  my  life. 
With  these  streams  and  mountains  are 
associated  most  of  the  delightful  recollec- 
tions of  buoyant  and  happy  boyhood — 
and  in  my  early  intercourse  with  the 
generous,  independent  and  intelligent 
yeomanry  of  Hillsborough,  I became  at- 


8 


LIFE’  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


tached  to  and  learned  how  highly  to  ap- 
preciate that  class  of  the  community 
which  constitutes  the  true  nobility  of  this 
country.  I need  hardly  say  that  I shall 
never  cease  to  remember  my  birth-place 
with  pride  as  well  i as  affection,  and  with 
still  more  pride  shall  I recollect  the 
steady,  unqualified  and  generous  confi- 
dence which  has  been  reposed  in  me  by 
its  inhabitants.  With  unfeigned  re- 
gret, gentlemen,  that  > I am  unable  to 
accept  the  invitation  you  have  communi- 
cated in  such  kind  and  flattering  terms, 
please  to  accept'  for  yourselves,  and  to 
communicate  to  my  fellow-citizens,  whose 
organs  you  are  on  this  occasion,  the  assu- 
rance of  my  warm  thanks  and  sincerest 
interest  in  whatever  relates  to  their  pro- 
sperity and  happiness,  individually  and 
collectively. 

I am,  gentlemen,  with  the  highest 
respect,  your  friend  and  obedient  ser- 
vant, 

Franklin  Pierce. 
Timothy  Wyman,  Esq. 

Mr.  Pierce’s  course  in  Congress  had 
(1840)  elicited  much  commendation.  Of 
his  speeches  that  were  widely  circulated, 
was  one  on  revolutionary  claims,  which 
was  pronounced  “a  masterly  analysis,” 
sound  in  its  principle  and  construction, 
and  thorough  in  its  business  details. 
His  speech  on  the  Florida  war,  also,  was 
commended  as  a dignified  vindication  of 
the  administration  against  the  party  as- 
saults that  had  been  made  upon  it.  “New 
Hampshire,”  said  the  Boston  Post,  June 
19,  1840,  “ has  just  cause  of  pride  in 
her  youthful  senator.  To  a grace  and 
modesty  of  manner,  which  always  attract 
when  he  addresses  the  Senate,  he  has 
added  severe  application  to  business,  and 
a thorough  knowledge  of  his  subject  in 
all  its  relations;  and  hence  it  is,  though 
one  of  the  youngest,  he  is  one  of  the 
most  influential  in  the  distinguished  body 
of  which  he  is  a member.  Without  seek- 
ing  popularity  as  a debater,  Mr.  Pierce, 
in  the  quiet  and  untiring  pursuit  of  pub- 
lic duty,  and  the  conscientious  discharge 
of  private  responsibility,  has  acquired  a 
permanent  reputation,  which  places  him 
among  the  most  useful  and  efficient  pub- 
lic men  in  the  country.  Long  may  he 
enjoy  it.” 


In  1840  the  presidential  contest  oc- 
curred that  resulted  in  the  election  of 
General  Harrison  as  president.  General 
Pierce  engaged  in  this  struggle  with  his 
characteristic  zeal  and  energy;  and  his 
services  were  much  sought  for  and  were 
freely  given.  Though  others  of  the  sons 
of  the  granite  state,  and  its  press,  were 
equally  zealous,  yet  it  was  owing  much  . 
to  his  large  personal  influence  that  the 
state  remained  firm  when  other  democra- 
tic states  yielded  to  the  storm.  Though 
a change  of  rulers  was  effected,  yet  the 
financial  policy  upon  which  the  democra- 
tic party  stood  remains  unchanged,  and 
is  now  daily  vindicating  itself  by  its 
quiet,  beneficent  and  efficient  action. 

It  was  after  such  a contest,  in  which 
might  temporarily  prevailed  over  right, 
in  which,  so  far  as  platforms  were  con- 
cerned, on  the  whig  side  all  was  loose, 
indefinite,  uncommittal,  excepting  only 
the  generous  promise  of  better  times, 
and  on  the  democratic  side  were  the 
frankest  declaration  of  principles  and 
boldest  discussion  of  policy,  that  Mr. 
Pierce  re-entered  the  Senate  at  the  extra 
session  called  by  President  Harrison. 
Then  New  Hampshire  made  herself 
heard  and  felt  in  a way  that  drew  towards  • 
her  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country.  Mr. 
Pierce’s  colleague  was  Levi  Woodbury, 
fresh  from  the  treasury  department,  with 
a large  financial  experience,  ready  statis- 
tics, and  great  analytical  ability.  Mr. 
Pierce  was  chagrined  at  the  unfair  man- 
ner in  which  his  party  had  been  over- 
thrown. Democrats  in  that  body  were 
in  a minority,  and,  it  is  not  unjust  to 
add,  in  the  presence  of  a dictatorial  and 
overbearing  majority,  more  willing  to 
act  than  to  defend  their  action. 

The  debates  of  this  extra  session  speak 
for  themselves.  Levi  Woodbury  not 
merely  refuted  the  electioneering  finan- 
cial statements  of  whig  orators,  but. most 
successfully  encountered  all  who  at- 
tempted to  controvert  him;  and  it  is  no( 
too  much  to  say  that  there  was  no  match, 
on  financial  points,  for  him  in  the  Senate, 
and  he  absolutely  Waterlood  his  anta- 
gonists. .Franklin  Pierce  was  not  behind 
his  colleague,  and  did  not  hesitate  tc 
encounter  even  Mr.  Webster  in  the  de- 
bates. On  one  occasion  he  occupied  the 
morning  hour  of  three  days  (June  30, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


9 


July  1 and  2,  1841,)  in  a speech  cha- 
racterized by  such  a scathing  exhibition 
of  facts,  such  closeness  of  reasoning, 
such  force  of  eloquence,  as  to  render  it 
one  fit  to  be  made  in  such  a body.  This 
effort,  on  removals  from  office,  was  warmly 
commended  and  widely  circulated  by 
democratic  journals.  And  if  figures,  in 
the  hands  of  Woodbury,  made  havoc  with 
the  fancy  financial  statements  of  whig 
leaders,  professions  as  to  proscribing  pro- 
scription, compared  with  the  facts  of  the 
removals  from  office,  in  the  hands  of 
Pierce,  made  a most  discreditable  exhibit 
of  whig  partizan  tactics. 

Mr.  Buchanan  had  offered  a resolution 
calling  upon  the  President  to  furnish  the 
names  of  persons  removed  from  office 
and  those  appointed  since  the  4th  of 
March,  1842.  On  this  subject  General 
Pierce  said : 

“ Democratic  administrations  have 
turned  out  some — many  if  you  please — 
political  opponents  to  give  place  to  poli- 
tical friends,  and  on  the  single  ground 
that  they  had  the  right  to  prefer  their 
friends  to  their  opponents.  But  on  this 
point  let  me  observe,  that  no  man  can 
say,  from  his  individual  knowledge,  how 
it  is  over  the  whole  country;  but  here 
we  can  know,  and  here  we  do  know,  the 
fact  that  a majority  of  the  subordinate 
officers  in  the  executive  departments 
have,  during  the  last  twelve  years,  been 
opposed  to  General  Jackson’s  and  Mr. 
Van  Buren’s  administrations. 

“ They  were  faithful  and  competent 
officers,  I believe;  at  all  events  they 
were  not  reached  by  one  spirit  of  pro- 
scription. Where,  for  the  last  twelve 
years,  your  political  friends  have  enjoyed 
a majority  of  the  places,  how  have  our 
friends  been  treated  now  that  the  tables 
are  turned  ? They  have  not  escaped  your 
sharper  and  broader  axe,  wielded  against 
your  open  and  universal  professions. 
But  whatever  was  done  by  the  late  admi- 
nistrations was  not  done  tmder  false 
pretences.  We  put  forth  no  canting, 
hypocritical  circulars;  we  stood  before 
the  nation  and  the  world  on  the  naked 
unqualified  ground  that  we  preferred  our 
friends  to  our  opponents;  that  to  confer 
place  was  our  privilege  which  we  chose 
to  exorcise.  I ought  not  to  say  we  chose , 
sir;  I will  say — what  those  friends  best 


acquainted  with  me  know — that  there 
was  nothing  in  the  administration  of 
General  Jackson  which  I so  uniformly 
failed  to  justify,  as  the  removal  of  one 
worthy  officer  to  give  place  to  another. 

“ But  that  removals  have  occurred,  is 
not  the  thing  of  which  I complain.  I 
complain  of  your  hypocrisy.  I charge 
that  your  press  and  your  leading  orators 
made  promises  to  the  nation  which  they 
did  not  intend  to  redeem , and  which 
they  now  vainly  attempt  to  cover  up 
by  cobwebs.  The  senator  from  South 
Carolina,  near  me,  (Mr.  Calhoun,)  re- 
marked,. yesterday,  that  he  had  no  lan- 
guage to  express  the  infamy  which,  in 
his  judgment,  must  attach  to  that  man, 
who  had  been  before  the  people  raising 
his  voice  in  the  general  shout  that  pro- 
scription was  to  be  proscribed,  and  was, 
in  the  face  of  such  action,  now  here  beg- 
ging for  place  at  the  footstool  of  power. 
If  my  heart  ever  responded  fully,  un- 
qualifiedly, to  any  sentiment,  it  was  to 
that.  Fortunately,  before  the  keen  scru- 
tiny of  our  countrymen,  disguises  are 
vain,  masks  unavailing.  The  practice 
of  the  present  administration  has  already 
fixed  upon  its  professions  one  of  two 
things — the  stamp  either  of  truth  or 
falsehood;  the  people  will  judge  which. 

“ One  word  more  and  I leave  this 
subject — a painful  one  to  me,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  The  senator  from 
North  Carolina,  in  the  course  of  his  re- 
marks the  dther  day,  asked,  * Do  gentle- 
men expect  that  their  friends  are  to  be 
retained  in  office  against  the  will  of  the 
nation?  are  they  so  unreasonable  as  to 
expect  what  the  circumstances  and  the 
necessity  of  the  case  forbid?’  What  our 
expectations  were,  is  not  the  question 
now : but  what  were  your  pledges  and 
promises  before  the  people  ? On  a pre- 
vious occasion  the  distinguished  senator 
from  Kentucky,  (Mr.  Clay)  made  a simi- 
lar remark  : ‘ An  ungracious  task,  but 
the  nation  demands  it.’  Sir,  this  demand 
of  the  nation — this  plea  of  1 state  neces- 
sity,’ let  me  tell  gentlemen,  is  as  old  as 
the  history  of  wrong  and  oppression.  It 
has  been  the  standing  plea — the  never- 
failing  resort  of  despotism. 

“The  great  Julius  found  it  convenient, 
when  he  restored  the  dignity  of  the  Ho- 
man Senate,  but  destroyed  its  indepen - 


10 


LIFE  OP  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


deuce.  It  gave  countenance  to,  and  jus- 
tified all  the  atrocities  of  the  Inquisition 
in  Spain.  It  gave  utterance  to  the  stifled 
groans  from  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta. 
It  was  written  in  tears  upon  1 the  Bridge 
of  Sighs/  in  Venice;  and  pointed  to 
those  dark  recesses,  upon  whose  gloomy 
portals  there  was  never  seen  a returning 
footprint. 

“It  was  the  plea  of  the  austere  and 
ambitious  Stratford  in  the  days  of  Charles 
the  First.  It  filled  the  Bastile  of  France, 
and  lent  its  sanction  to  the  terrible 
atrocities  perpetrated  there.  It  was  the 
plea  that  snatched  the  mild,  eloquent, 
and  patriotic  Camille  Desmoulins  from 
his  young  and  beautiful  wife,  and  hur- 
ried him  upon  the  hurdle  to  the  guillo- 
tine, with  thousands  of  others  equally 
unoffending  and  innocent.  It  was  upon 
this  plea  that  the  greatest  of  generals, 
if  not  of  men — you  cannot  mistake  me 
— I mean  him,  the  presence  of  whose 
very  ashes,  within  the  last  few  months, 
was  sufficient  to  stir  the  hearts  of  a 
continent — it  was  upon  this  plea  that 
he  abjured  that  noble  wife  who  threw 
around  his  humble  days  light  and  glad- 
ness, and  by  her  own  lofty  energies 
and  high  intellect  encouraged  his  aspi- 
rations. It  was  upon  this  plea  that  he 
committed  that  worst  and  most  fatal  act 
of  his  eventful  life.  Upon  this,  too,  he 
drew  around  his  person  the  imperial  pur- 
ple. It  has  in  all  times,  and  in  every 
age,  been  the  foe  of  liberty,  and  the  in- 
dispensable stay  of  usurpation. 

“ Where  were  the  chains  of  despotism 
ever  thrown  around  the  freedom  of  speech 
and  of  the  press,  but  on  this  plea  of  ‘State 
necessity  T Let  the  spirit  of  Charles  the 
Tenth  and  of  his  ministers  answer.  It 
is  cold,  selfish,  heartless ; and  has  always 
been  regardless  of  age,  sex,  condition, 
services  or  any  of  the  incidents  of  life 
that  appeal  to  patriotism  or  humanity. 
Wherever  its  authority  has  been  acknow- 
ledged, it  has  assailed  men  who  stood  by 
their  country  when  she  needed  strong 
arms  and  bold  hearts;  and  has  assailed 
them  when,  maimed  and  disabled  in  her 
service,  they  could  no  longer  brandish  a 
weapon  in  her  defence.  It  has  afflicted 
the  feeble  and  dependent  wife  for  the 
imaginary  faults  of  her  husband.  It  has 
stricken  down  innocence  in  its  beauty, 


youth  in  its  freshness,  manhood  in  its 
vigor,  and  old  age  in  its  feebleness  and 
decrepitude.  Whatever  other  plea  of  apo- 
logy may  be  set  up  for  the  sweeping, 
ruthless  exercise  of  this  civil  guillo- 
tine at  the  present  day — in  the  name  of 
Liberty,  let  us  be  spared  this  fearful  one 
of  ‘state  necessity’  in  this  early  age  of 
the  Republic,  upon  the  floor  of  the  Ame- 
rican Senate,  in  the  face  of  a people  yet 
free.” 

In  1842  Mr.  Pierce  had  served  nine 
years  in  Congress.  He  was  one  of  the 
youngest  men  who  have  held  a seat  in 
either  branch,  having  attained  but  little 
more  than  the  constitutional  age  when  he 
took  his  seat  both  in  the  House  and  the 
Senate;  and  yet  his  bearing  was  such 
as  to  have  made  its  mark  on  the  public 
men  of  the  time.  Gentlemen  of  all 
parties  bear  willing  testimony  to  the 
high  sense  of  honor,  the  general  utility, 
the  unvarying  courtesy,  that  marked  his 
course.  He  won  the  reputation,  and  it 
is  no  small  one,  of  being  a valuable  mem- 
ber of  both  branches — prompt  in  attend- 
ing to  the  business  of  his  committees, 
with  real  work  in  him,  and  with  great 
debating  talent  to  present  his  case  clearly 
and  efficiently.  This  sort  of  labor  makes 
but  little  show,  but  it  is  most  useful  and 
valuable  to  a constituency  and  the  coun- 
try. His  reputation  at  that  time  as  a 
man,  is  thus  concisely  given  in  a recent 
Washington  letter,  addressed  to  the  edi- 
tor of  the  Puritan,  a religious  paper. 
The  writer  says : — 

“ Of  Franklin  Pierce  I cannot  do  other- 
wise than  speak  well;  for  it  happened 
to  me,  during  a short  term  of  official 
service  in  Bowdoin  College,  during  the 
presidency  of  Mr.  Allen,  to  know  him 
as  a scholar  there,  and  while  resident  in 
this  region,  to  know  him  as  a senator. 
A very  frank,  gentlemanly,  unobtrusive 
man  is  he,  strongly  devoted  to  his  poli- 
tical principles,  kind  and  constant  in  his 
friendships,-  and  venerating  the  institu- 
tions of  religion.” 

It  would  be  easy  to  present  columns 
of  Mr.  Pierce’s  speeches.  These,  to- 
gether with  his  votes,  present  him  as  a 
politician  of  the  Virginia  school,  in  favor 
of  an  economical  administration  of  the 
general  government,  of  a strict  construc- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  and  as  a repub-' 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


11 


lican  of  the  Jeffersonian  cast.  They 
present  him  as  one  who  has  uniformly 
acted  according  to  fixed  principles,  swerv- 
ing neither  for  sympathy  nor  friendship 
nor  interest  from  the  constitutional  path, 
but,  under  the  guidance  of  this,  honestly 
and  fearlessly  performing  his  public  du- 
ties. They  show  him  to  be  thoroughly 
identified  with  the  principles  and  mea- 
sures of  the  great  party  which,  for  so 
many  years  since  the  adoption  of  the 
present  frame  of  government,  has  suc- 
cessfully, in  peace  and  war,  carried  the 
country  onward  and  upward. 

Mr.  Pierce’s  various  speeches  on  the 
abolition  question,  commencing  when 
first  a member  of  the  House,  and  con- 
tinuing almost  to  the  close  of  his  senato- 
rial term,  will  serve  to  give  his  views  on 
the  living  question  now  before  the  coun- 
try. On  this  point  he  has  pursued  but 
one  course,  and  it  has  always  been  de- 
cided and  frank.  He  has  declared,  from 
the  first,  that  he  regarded  the  schemes 
of  the  abolitionists  mad  and  fanatical, 
and  prejudicial  in  their  consequences  to 
all  sections  of  the  Union.  He  avowed 
that  no  valuable  end  could  be  gained  by 
an  agitation  of  the  subject  in  Congress  ; 
and  when  petitions  poured  in,  asking  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  he  was  frank  to  oppose  the 
petitions.  This  object  was  but  their 
opening  door.  He  declared  it  to  be  im- 
possible to  read  a single  number  of  lead- 
ing abolition  periodicals  without  per- 
ceiving that  their  object  stopped  at  no 
point  short  of  emancipation  in  the  states. 
Now  Congress  had  no  constitutional 
power  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the 
states,  consequently  Mr.  Pierce  said,  in 
1838:— 

“ The  citizen  of  New  Hampshire  is  no 
more  responsible,  morally  or  politically, 
for  the  existence  and  continuance  of  this 
domestic  institution  in  Virginia  or  Mary- 
land, than  he  would  be  for  the  existence 
of  any  similar  institution  in  France  or 
Persia.  Why  ? Because  these  are  mat- 
ters over  which  the  states,  respectively, 
when  delegating  a portion  of  their  powers, 
to  be  exercised  by  the  general  govern- 
ment, retained  the  whole  and  exclusive 
control,  and  for  which  they  are  alone 
responsible. 

“ Now  let  these  doctrines  be  univer- 


sally understood  and  admitted,  and  you 
take  one  great  step  towards  satisfying  the 
consciences  of  honest  but  misguided  peo- 
ple, in  one  section  of  the  country,  and 
quieting  the  irritation,  for  which  there 
has  been  too  much  cause,  in  the  other.” 

Again,  in  1840,  he  thus  expressed  his 
views  on  this  subject : — 

“I  do  earnestly  hope  that  every  honest 
man  who  has  sincerely  at  heart  the  best 
interests  of  the  slave  and  the  master,  may 
no  longer  be  governed  by  a blind  zeal 
and  impulse,  but  be  led  to  examine  this 
subject,  so  full  of 'delicacy  and  danger  in 
all  its  bearings;  and  that  when  called 
upon  to  lend  their  names  and  influence 
to  the  cause  of  agitation,  they  may  re- 
member that  we  live  under  a written 
constitution,  which  is  the  panoply  and 
protection  of  the  south  as  well  as  the 
north;  that  it  covers  the  whole  Union, 
ancf  is  equally  a guaranty  for  the  unmo- 
lested enjoyment  of  the  domestic  insti- 
tution, in  all  its  parts ; and  I trust  fur- 
ther, that  they  will  no  longer  close  their 
eyes  to  the  fact,  that  so  far  as  those  in 
whose  welfare  they  express  so  much  feel- 
ing are  concerned,  this  foreign  interfe- 
rence has  been  and  must  inevitably  con- 
tinue to  be  evil,  and  only  evil.” 

Once  more:  In  1841,  he  raised  his 
voice  against  the  policy  which,  under 
the  rule  of  the  whig  Seward  men  of  the 
day,  rewarded  the  abolition  faction  with 
public  confidence  and  emolument,  and 
thus  held  out  to  them  not  only  encour- 
agement, but  urgent  stimulants  to  perse- 
vere in  their  incendiary  measures.  And 
in  eloquent  notes  of  warning  he  predicted 
that,  although  the  public  mind  was  not 
then  agitated  on  this  subject,  the  repose 
| would  prove  illusory ; that  there  was 
below  the  surface  a profound  movement, 
receiving  new  impulses,  that  would  ere 
long  shake  the  Union  to  its  centre;  and 
he  declared  then  that  it  was  his  pride 
and  pleasure  to  be  associated  with  such 
a party  as  existed  in  New  Hampshire, 
which  had  with  one  voice  and  one  heart- 
been  in  favor  of  putting  down  this 
politico-religious  fanaticism,  and  been 
against  any  interference  with  the  rights 
secured  to  the  states  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

In  1842  Mr.  Pierce  resigned  his  seat 
in  the  Senate  in  the  following  letter : 


12 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


Washington,  June  28,  1842. 

Sir — Having  informed  the  Governor 
of  New  Hampshire  that  on  this  day  my 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
would  become  vacant  by  resignation,  I 
have  thought  proper  to  communicate  the 
fact  to  you  and  the  Senate. 

In  severing  the  relations  that  have  so 
long  subsisted  between  the  gentlemen 
with  whom  I have  been  associated,  my 
feeling  of  pain  and  regret  will  readily 
be  appreciated  by  those  who  know  that, 
in  all  my  intercourse  during  the  time  I 
have  been  a member  of  the  body,  no 
unpleasant  occurrence  has  ever  taken 
place  to  disturb  for  a moment  my  agree- 
able relations  with  any  individual  se- 
nator. 

With  a desire  for  the  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  you  all,  for  which  now,  in  the 
fulness  of  my  heart,  I find  no  form*  of 
expression,  I have  the  honor  to  be,  with 
the  highest  consideration, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Franklin  Pierce. 
Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  ) 

President  of  the  Senate,  j 

Thus  did  this  young  man,  only  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  voluntarily  resign  one 
of  the  highest  and  most  honorable  offices 
in  the  gift  of  the  American  nation,  and 
with  the  fixed  purpose  of  not  entering 
public  life,  so  as  to  be  separated  from  his 
family,  unless  his  country  in  a time  of 
war  should  call  for  his  services.  And 
this  was  a period  of  life  when  ambition, 
the  love  of  power,  the  desire  of  prefer- 
ment, is  apt  to  be  the  strongest.  His 
future  promised  all  this.  Such  had  been 
the  exhibition  of  talent  that  commands 
respect,  and  the  qualities,  that  attract 
regard,  that  he  might,  without  presump- 
tion, have  aspired  to  any  place  in  the 
gift  of  his  countrymen.  But  these  con- 
siderations did  not  move  him.  He  laid 
aside  his  senatorial  robes  without  regret, 
and  sought  that  retirement  which  an 
elevated  patriotism  and  cultivated  taste 
so  ardently  covets.  Such  a course  as 
this  is  at  best  uncommon.  So  rarely 
is  it  that  office  seeks  the  man.  So  com- 
mon has  it  been  for  ambition  to  prosti- 
tute much  that  marks  public  virtue  to 
grasp  at  place. 

While  in  the  Senate,  though  the 


youngest  member  of  that  body,  he  ac- 
quitted himself  in  such  a manner  as  to 
secure  the  personal  favor  and  esteem 
of  all  with  whom  he  was  associated,  the 
admiration  and  approbation  of  his  con- 
stituency, and  a high  position  among 
the  statesmen  and  orators  of  the  nation. 

Never  rising  but  when  he  had  some- 
thing to  say,  and  resuming  his  seat 
when  he  had  done,  his  speeches  were 
always  short  and  to  the ''point.  They 
are  distinguished  for  their  unalloyed 
democracy  and  uncompromising  opposi- 
tion to  the  corrupt  measures  which  it  has 
ever  been  the  object  of  the  whig  party  to 
fasten  upon  the  country. 

For  the  next  five  years  Mr.  Pierce 
closely  applied  himself  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  It  is  doing  him  no 
more  than  justice  to  say,  that  here  he 
was  eminently  successful,  and  won  his 
way  to  the  first  rank  among  the  eminent 
lawyers  of  his  native  state.  He  was  truly 
an  eloquent  pleader.  His  efforts  are 
marked  no  less  by  insight  into  character 
and  uniform  good  sense,  than  by  close 
reasoning  and  forcible  appeal ; while  in 
skill  in  presenting  a case  to  a jury, 
and  in  success  in  winning  verdicts,  he 
was  never  surpassed  even  by  the  giants 
of  the  New  Hampshire  bar.  Hence  he 
attained  a practice  in  an  extraordinary 
degree  lucrative  and  respectable.  While 
his  associates  bear  testimony  to  his  ho- 
norable manner  of  conducting  his  cases, 
his  clients  found  him  able,  prompt  and 
faithful. 

In  1845,  on  the  resignation  of  the 
Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  Gov.'  Stee-le  ten- 
dered to  Mr.  Pierce  an  appointment  to 
fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  Senate ; saying,  that  he 
knew  of  no  one  whose  appointment 
would  give  more  general  satisfaction  to 
the  citizens  of  New  Hampshire. 

This  appointment,  however,  Mr.  Pierce 
was  compelled  to  decline,  as  his  profes- 
sional engagements  were  such  that  he 
could  not  leave  the  state  without  sacri- 
ficing to  a certain  extent  the  interests 
and  disregarding  the  reasonable  expec- 
tations of  those  who  relied  upon  his 
services. 

A convention  of  the  democratic  party 
subsequently  nominated  him  to  the  office 
of  governor,  but,  in  an  eloquent  and 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


13 


patriotic  speech,  he  declined  this  honor. 
When  Hon.  John  P.  Hale  came  out  in 
opposition  to  the  democratic  party,  and 
the  democrats  put  a new  candidate  in  no- 
mination, Mr.  Pierce  sustained  this  move- 
ment with  his  accustomed  frankness  and 
zeal,  although  Mr.  Hale,  from  his  college 
days,  had  been  his  warm  personal  friend. 

Though  Mr.  Pierce  uniformly  declined 
the  honorable  and  exalted  places  which 
he  was  so  well  qualified  to  fill,  he  ac- 
cepted the  office  of  district  attorney  of 
New  Hampshire,  as  the  duties  of  it  were 
in  the  line  of  his  profession.  This  office 
he  held  until  1847. 

In  1846,  President  Polk,  who  had 
served  in  Congress  with  him,  and  appre- 
ciated his  brilliant  genius,  sound  princi- 
ples, and  administrative  talent,  invited 
him  to  a seat  in  his  Cabinet.  The  let- 
ter of  Col.  Polk  is  alike  honorable  to 
both.  The  President  says — 

“ It  gives  me  sincere  pleasure  to  in- 
vite you  to  accept  a place  in  my  Cabinet, 
by  tendering  to  you  the  office  of  attorney 
general  of  the  United  States.  I have 
selected  you  for  this  important  office 
from  my  personal  knowledge  of  you, 
and  without  the  solicitation  or  sugges- 
tion of  any  one.  I have  done  so  because 
I have  no  doubt  your  personal  associa- 
tion with  me  would  be  pleasant,  and  from 
the  consideration  that  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  the  office  you  could 
render  me  an  important  aid  in  conduct- 
ing my  administration.  In  this  instance 
at  least,  the  office  has  sought  the  man, 
and  not  the  man  the  office,  and  I hope 
you  may.  accept  it.” 

Mr.  Pierce  declined  this  flattering 
offer  in  the  following  terms  : — 

, “ Concord.  N.  H.,  Sept.  6, 1846. 

My  Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  of  the 
| 27th  was  received  a week  since.  Nothing 
| could  have  been  more  unexpected,  and 
considering  the  importance  of  the  propo- 
sition in  a great  variety  of  aspects,  I trust 
you  will  not  think  there  has  been  an  un- 
reasonable delay  in  arriving  at  a decision. 
With  my  pursuits  for  the  last  few  years 
and  my  present  tastes,  no  position,  if  I 
were  in  a situation  on  the  whole  to  desire 
public  employment,  could  be  so  accept- 
able as  the  one  which  your  partiality  has 
proffered. 


11 1 ought  not,  perhaps,  in  justice  to  the 
high  motives  by  which  I know  you  are 
governed,  to  attribute  your  selection  to 
personal  friendship;  but  I cannot  doubt 
that  your  judgment  in  the  matter  has 
been  somewhat  warped  by  your  feelings. 
When  I saw  the  manner  in  which  you 
had  cast  your  Cabinet  I was  struck  by 
the  fact  that  from  the  entire  range  of  my 
acquaintance  formed  at  Washington,  you 
could  not  have  called  around  you  men 
with  whom  it  was  my  fortune  to  be  better 
acquainted,  or  of  whom  I entertained  a 
more  delightful  recollection  than  Mr. 
Buchanan,  Mr.  Walker,  Mr.  Mason  and 
Mr.  Johnson.  A place  in  your  Cabinet, 
therefore,  so  far  as  personal  association 
is  concerned,  could  not  be  more  agree- 
able, had  the  whole  been  the  subject  of 
my  own  choice. 

“When  I add  your  important  measures 
in  the  foreign  and  home  administration 
of  the  government  have  commanded  not 
merely  the  approbation  of  my  judgment, 
but  my  grateful  acknowledgments  as  an 
American  citizen,  you  will  see  how  de- 
sirable on  every  ground  connected  with 
your  administration,  the  office  tendered 
would  be  to  me ; and  yet  after  mature 
consideration  I am  constrained  to  de- 
cline. Although  the  early  years  of  my 
manhood  were  devoted  to  public  life, 
it  was  never  really  suited  to  my  taste. 
I longed,  as  I am  sure  you  must  often 
have  done,  for  the  quiet  and  indepen- 
dence that  belongs  only  to  the  private 
citizen;  and  now,  at  forty,  I feel  that 
desire  stronger  than  ever. 

“ Coming  unexpectedly,  as  this  offer 
does,  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible to  arrange  the  business  of  an  ex- 
tensive practice,  between  this  and  the 
first  of  November  in  a manner  at  all 
satisfactory  to  myself  or  to  those  who 
have  committed  their  interests  to  my 
care,  and  who  rely  on  my  services.  Be- 
sides, you  know  that  Mrs.  Pierce’s  health 
while  at  Washington,  was  very  delicate 
— it  is,  I fear,  even  more  so  now,  and 
the  responsibilities  which  the  proposed 
change  would  necessarily  impose  upon 
her,  ought  probably  in  themselves  to 
constitute  an  insurmountable  objection 
to  leaving  our  quiet  home  for  a public 
station  at  Washington. 

“ When  I resigned  my  seat  in  the  Se- 


14 


LIFE  OP  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


mate  in  1842, 1 did  it  with  the  fixed  pur- 
pose never  again  to  be  voluntarily  sepa- 
rated from  my  family  for  any  considerable 
length  of  time,  except  at  the  call  of  my 
country  in  the  time  of  war,  and  yet  this 
consequence,  for  the  reason  before  stated 
and  on  account  of  climate,  would  be  very 
likely  to  result  from  my  acceptance. 

“ These  are  some  of  the  considerations 
which  have  influenced  my  decision.  You 
will,  I am  sure,  appreciate  my  motives. 
You  will  not  believe  that  I have  weighed 
my  personal  convenience  and  ease  against 
the  public  interest,  especially  as  the  of- 
fice is  one  which,  if  not  sought,  would 
be  readily  accepted  by  gentlemen  who 
could  bring  to  your  aid  attainments  and 
qualifications  vastly  superior  to  mine. 

“ Accept  my  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments, and  believe  me, 

Truly  and  faithfully,  your  friend, 

Frank.  Pierce.” 

The  good  taste,  beauty,  and  modesty 
of  this  letter,  need  no  words  of  commen- 
dation. 

When  Mr.  Pierce  thus  declined  the 
appointment  so  honorably  tendered  to 
him  by  President  Polk,  he  stated  that 
he  did  it  with  the  fixed  purpose  to  await 
the  call  of  his  country  in  a time  of  war, 
ere  he  again  separated  from  his  family. 
The  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war 
was  a summons  to  him  to  engage  again 
in  public  service.  When  the  requisition 
was  made  upon  the  state  of  New  Hamp- 
shire for  a battalion  of  volunteers,  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  put  his  name  upon 
the  roll  as  a private  in  the  company 
raised  in  Concord,  and  in  this  capacity 
he  drilled  in  its  ranks.  When  the  ten 
regiment  bill  was  passed*  by  Congress, 
the  President,  who  had  served  with  Mr. 
Pierce  and  appreciated  his  sterling  quali- 
ties of  head  and  heart,  tendered  to  him 
the  appointment  of  colonel  of  the  ninth, 
which  was  promptly  accepted.  When 
the  law  for  the  organization  of  the  new 
ten  regiments  was  passed,  the  President 
tendered  Mr.  Pierce  the  appointment  of 
brigadier-general.  This  selection  was 
hailed  in  all  parts  of  the  country  as  a 
happy  one. 

“From  his  earliest  manhood,”  says 
the  Nashville  Union,  Sept.  1847,  “Gen. 
Pierce  has  been  the  boast  of  the  New 


Hampshire  democracy.  From  his  father, 
a distinguished  officer  in  the  revolution, 
he  inherited  all  those  qualities  of  cour- 
age, coolness,  and  energy,  which  qualify 
a man  for  command.  And  he  also  pos- 
sesses qualities  as  a statesman  of  the 
highest  order.  That  he  will  distinguish 
himself  wherever  distinction  is  to  be 
won,  his  multitude  of  acquaintances,  in 
all  the  states  of  the  Union,  of  all  parties, 
will  vouch.” 

It  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  J.  K. 
Walker,  Esq.,  private  secretary  to  the 
President,  that  when  Mr.  Polk  signed 
the  commission  of  Gen.  Pierce,  appointing 
him  to  a command  in  the  army  in  Mex- 
ico, he  turned  to  those  gentlemen  and 
said : “ I am  now  commissioning  a man 
who  will  one  day  he  President  /” 

The  brave  Ransom  was  of  this  regi- 
ment, and  Col.  Pierce  wrote  to  President 
Polk  and  urged  him  to  appoint  Ransom 
to  the  command.  The  President,  how- 
ever, thought  fit  to  do  otherwise.  His 
commission  as  brigadier-general  is  dated 
March  3,  1847.  At  this  point,  Gen. 
Low,  a patriotic  citizen  of  Concord,  N.  H. 
— as  he  stated  in  1847,  on  the  occasion 
of  Gen.  Pierce’s  return — asked  him  if  it 
were  true  that  he  had  decided  to  sunder 
the  tender  ties  of  husband  and  father, 
and  yield  the  enjoyments  and  comforts 
of  home,  to  maintain  the  cause  of  his 
country.  Gen.  Pierce’s  reply  was — 

“ I have  accepted  the  commission.  I 
could  not  do  otherwise.  I was  pledged 
to  do  it.  When  I left  the  Senate,  it  was 
with  a fixed  purpose  of  devoting  myself 
exclusively  to  my  profession,  with  the 
single  reservation,  that  if  my  country 
should  become  engaged  in  war,  1 would 
ever  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  serve 
her  in  the  field,  if  called  upon  to  defend 
her  honor, and  maintain  her  rights.  War 
has  come,  and  my  plighted  word  must 
and  shall  be  redeemed.” 

Gen.  Pierce’s  head-quarters,  for  a short 
time,  were  at  the  Tremont  House,  Bos- 
ton, where,  with  his  noble  and  gallant 
friend,  the  lamented  Ransom,  he  engaged 
diligently  and  energetically  in  the  work 
of  preparation.  There,  as  he  departed 
for  the  post  of  duty  and  danger,  he  took 
leave  of  many  friends.  One  of  them 
expressed  a hope  that  he  would  return 
j in  safety  and  in  honor — “ I will  come 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


15 


back  with  honor,  or  I will  not  come 
back,”  was  his  reply. 

Gen.  Pierce  sailed  from  Newport  in 
the  bark  Kepler.  Many  of  the  troops 
on  board  being  sick,  suffered  for  the  want 
of  water,  having  been  plaeed  on  short 
allowance.  Gen., Pierce,  on  receiving  his 
allowance,  mingled  with  the  suffering 
soldiers  and  made  them  share  his  part. 
It  was  but  the  commencement  of  that 
universal  care  for  the  brave  men  under 
him  and  uniform  kindness  and  attention 
to  them,  that  was  characteristic  of  his 
nature  and  marked  his  whole  course 
through  the  campaign.  He  arrived  at 
Yera  Cruz,  June  28.  Here  he  encoun- 
tered a pestilential  camp,  and  was  him- 
self taken  sick.  Still  he  was  ever  mind- 
ful of  his  companions  in  arms.  He  lent 
funds  freely  to  the  needy,  and  was  often 
seen  among  the  wearied  soldiers  cheering 
them  on.  In  spite  of  disease  his  loss  here 
was  but  trifling ; and  after  delays  to  pro- 
cure materials  which  the  future  comfort, 
safety,  and  health  of  his  command  ren- 
dered absolutely  necessary,  he  left  Vera 
Cruz  in  the  middle  of  the  hot  month  of 
July,  with  one  of  the  largest  reinforce- 
ments and  most  extensive  trains  that 
had  started  for  the  interior  since  Gen. 
Scott’s  departure.  His  brigade  consisted 
of  the  ninth  regiment,  New  England 
men;  the  twelfth,  men  from  Texas, 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  northern  Mississippi, 
and  Louisiana;  and  the  fifteenth,  raised 
in  Ohio,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  the 
eastern  part  of  Missouri,  and  the  western 
part  of  Indiana — in  all  about  twenty-five 
hundred  men.  His  line  of  march  was 
beset  by  Mexicans  and  guerilla  bands, 
determined  to  intercept  all  reinforce- 
ments on  their  way  to  the  American 
commander,  and  do  the  work  of  plunder 
and  massacre;  and  the  object  of  Gen. 
Pierce  was,  not  to  seek  encounters  with 
the  enemy,  but  to  present  to  his  superior 
the  greatest  number  of  troops  in  the 
best  condition  that  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  do. 

The  command  had  proceeded  only 
fifteen  miles  from  Yera  Cruz  when,  near 
the  National  Bridge,  his  firmness,  gal- 
lantry, and  decision  of  character,  were 
put  to  a test.  His  force  was  there  at- 
tacked by  a guerilla  party.  He  gave  an 
order  to  charge  upon  the  chapparel. 


Col.  Ransom  questioned  the  expediency 
of  this  order.  “I  have  given  the  order,” 
the  general  firmly  replied.  The  charge 
was  made  and  the  enemy  repulsed.  At 
the  National  Bridge  he  was  again  at- 
tacked by  the  guerillas,  who  had  barri- 
caded the  bridge  with  chapparel.  He 
promptly  ordered  the  troops  to  dash  over 
the  barricade  and  charge  the  enemy. 
Capt.  Dupreau  executed  this  order.  On 
this  occasion  two  bullets  passed  through 
the' general’s  hat. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  Gen.  Pierce,  at 
Perote,  advised  Gen.  Scott  of  the  state 
of  his  command.  It  consisted,  to  a great 
extent,  of  northern  recruits,  able  and 
willing  men,  and  in  fine  condition,  so  far 
as  health  was  concerned.  He  had  lost 
but  one  man  by  the  vomito  at  Yera  Cruz, 
and  none  by  that  disease  on  the  march; 
and  though  the  bridge  at  San  Juan  had 
been  partially  destroyed,  the  main  arch 
at  Plan  del  Rio  had  been  blown  up,  and 
he  had  been  five  times  attacked,  yet  he 
says  he  had  really  encountered  nothing 
that  could  be  construed  into  serious  re- 
sistance. “I  shall  bring  to  your  com- 
mand,” the  general  informs  his  chief, 
“ about  twenty-four  hundred  of  all  arms. 
To-morrow  morning  at  four  o’clock,  I 
shall  leave  here  for  Puebla,  and  shall 
make  the  march  in  five  days.” 

Gen.  Pierce  joined  Gen.  Scott  at  Pu- 
ebla, Aug.  6,  with  his  command  in  fine 
condition,  having  made  his  way  through 
a country  swarming  with  enemies,  and 
with  but  little  loss.  The  bearing  of 
the  general  in  this  march,  his  skill  in 
availing  himself  of  the  service  of  his 
staff,  his  sleepless  vigilance,  his  ardor 
and  energy,  his  good  judgment,  won 
golden  opinions  among  military  men, 
and  elicited  the  warmest  encomiums 
from  Gen.  Scott.  It  was  the  judgment 
his  compeers  passed  on  him,  that  had  he 
done  nothing  else,  he  would  have  esta- 
blished the  reputation  of  possessing  the 
qualities  of  an  able,  brave  and  successful 
commander. 

The  American  army  (August  7th) 
moved  forward  to  fight  the  great  battles 
of  the  valley  of  Mexico,  which  resulted 
in  the  waving  of  the  American  flag  over 
the  halls  of  the  Montezuma s.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  detail  events  so  honorable 
to  the  officers  who  directed  them,  and 


16 


\ 

LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


to  the  country  that  sent  them  forth.  The 
first  of  the  struggles  were  those  of  Con- 
treras and  Cherubusco.  In  describing 
the  former  engagement,  the  first  notice 
in  Scott’s  official  account,  of  Glen.  Pierce 
is,  that  of  being  “more  than  three  hours 
under  a heavy  fire  of  artillery  and  mus- 
kets along  the  almost  impassable  ravine 
in  front  and  to  the  left  of  the  entrenched 
camp.  Besides  twenty-two  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery, the  campk  and  ravine  were  de- 
fended closely  by  masses  of  infantry,  and 
these  again  supported  by  clouds  of  ca- 
valry at  hand  and  hovering  in  view.” 
This  was  the  front  of  the  enemy’s 
works  at  Contreras.  The  gallant  ninth 
and  twelfth  regiments  of  infantry — Gen. 
Pierce’s  command — moved  with  great 
alacrity  and  coolness,  and  to  the  admi- 
ration of  the  army,  for  three-fourths  of 
a mile,  under  a heavy  fire  of  round  shot 
and  shells,  to  a position  which  they  nobly 
maintained  from  2 o’clock  until  9 o’clock, 
P.  M.;  when,  not  being  able  to  make  an 
impression  on  a vastly  superior  force, 
they  were  ordered  to  a new  position. 
The  night  was  dark,  the  rain  poured  in 
torrents,  the  troops  were  wet,  hungry, 
and  without  the  possibility  of  sleep,  and 
the  ground  was  exceedingly  uneven  and 
difficult — indeed,,  it  was  a field  of  rock 
and  lava.  Late  this  memorable  evening, 
(19th,)  “ Gen.  Pierce  received,”  says 
Gen.  Scott,  “a  severe  hurt  from  the vfall 
of  his  horse.”  Scott  next  says — “ I 
sent  Pierce,  just  able  to  keep  the  saddle, 
with  his  brigade,  to  attack  the  enemy’s 
right  and  rear.”  But  the  accident  ren- 
dered the  general  physically  unable  to 
struggle,  successfully  with  the  difficulties 
of  the  ground  over  which  he  was  obliged 
to  pass,  and  in  making  the  effort  he  fell, 
faint  from  exhaustion  and  pain,  a few 
yards  from  the  severest  fire  of  the  ene- 
my’s line.  During  this  action,  General 
Pierce  evinced  the  greatest  coolness  and 
bravery.  As  the  shot  were  flying  about 
him,  he  exclaimed  to  his  troops,  “There, 
boys,  is  a game  of  balls  for  you.”  It 
was  the  first  time  that  he  fought  under 
Scott’s  eye,  who,  in  this  despatch,  terms 
him  “ the  gallant  Gen.  Pierce.”  That 
noble  soldier,  Gen.  Worth,  too,  in  his 
official  report,  acknowledges  his  obliga- 
tions and  expresses  admiration  of  his 
gallant  bearing.  Gen.  Pillow,  also,  says 


in  his  official  report,  (Aug.  24,  1841,) 
“ Brigadier  General  Pierce,  though  badly 
injured  by  the  fall  of  his  horse,  while 
gallantly  leading  his  brigade  into  the 
thickest  of  the  battle  on  the  19th,  did 
not  quit  the  field,  but  continued  in  com- 
mand of  his  brigade;  two  regiments  of 
which — the  ninth  and  twelfth  infantry, 
under  the  immediate  command  of  the 
gallant  Col.  Hansom  and  Lieut.  Col.  Bon- 
ham, on  the  19  th,  and  Capt.  Woods,  on 
the  20th — assailed  the  enemy’s  work  in 
front,  at  daylight,  with  great  intrepidity, 
and  contributed  much  to  the  glorious 
consummation  of  the  work  so  hand- 
somely commenced  on  the  preceding 
day.”  While  the  official  reports  of  Gen. 
Pierce’s  superior  officers  are  thus  ample 
as  to  his  bearing,  those  of  inferior  grade 
are  not  less  so.  An  officer  of  the  ninth 
regiment,  writing  from  Mexico,  in  1847, 
of  Gen.  Pierce,  says — “ I imagine  I can 
see  him  now,  upon  that  black  horse  at 
Contreras.  He  gave  us  a word  or  two  as 
we  filed  past,  in  a shower  of  shot  and 
shells,  in  return  for  which  we  gave  him 
a cheer.  I saw  him  too  at  Cherubusco, 
notwithstanding  he  was  hardly  able  to> 
sit  on  his  horse,  with  the  bullets  flying 
round  him.” 

These  great  battles,  which  placed  the 
capital  of  Mexico  at  the  feet  of  the  Ame- 
rican general,  were  followed  by  the  well 
known  armistice.  It  marks  the  confi- 
dence already  felt  in  General  Pierce  that 
the  commander  appointed  him  one  of 
the  commissioners  to  treat  with  Santa 
Anna.  The  result  is  well  known.  Ame- 
rican liberality  and  humanity  were  repaid 
by  Mexican  treachery  and  falsehood. 
On  the  seventh  of  September  hostilities 
were  renewed. 

The  American  army,  after  another 
series  of  brilliant  feats  of  arms,  hoisted, 
on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  September, 
the  American  flag  on  the  national  palace. 
Among  them  were  the  battles  of  Molino 
del  Bey,  on  the  8th,  and  of  Chepultepec, 
on  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th.  General 
Pierce  was  engaged  in  battle  with  the 
enemy  on  the  8th,  at  the  foot  of  Chepul- 
tepec. Here  he  did  efficierit  service, 
and  was  present  when  danger  was  to  be 
met.  As  he  was  going  over  the  field, 
when  bullets  were  flying  about  him, 
General  Worth  called  him  from  it  with 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


17 


the  remark  that  he  was  rash.  In  this 
battle,  J.  II.  Warland,  an  officer  of  the 
army,  writes  (1847,)  that  the  New  Eng- 
land regiment  was  ordered  to  take  off 
the  dead  and  wounded  and  cover  the 
withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the  field. 
The  duty  assigned  was  an  honorable 
one  and  was  worthily  performed.  Gen. 
Pierce  led  a portion  of  his  brigade  before 
the  blazing  fire  of  the  enemy’s  cannon 
with  a degree  of  courage  and  daring 
which  has  been  spoken  of  with  admira- 
tion. He  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life; 
several  times  the  six-pounders  ranging 
within  a few  inches  of  him  and  plough- 
ing the  ground  by  the  side  of  his  horse. 
He  continued  waving  his  sword  and 
encouraging  his  troops  till  the  duty 
assigned  was  performed.  The  cry  was — 
“ Come  on,  brave  New  England  boys !” 
The  same  gentleman  wrote  the  lines, 
containing  notices  of  the  New  England 
officers  in  the  army.  Of  General  Pierce 
he  writes — 

“Break  New  England’s  lion  spirit! 

No — not  while  Pierce  can  plunge  his  steed, 
Amid  the  cannon  blazing  near  it, 

Wave  his  bright  sword  and  onward  lead.’ 

The  last  great  battle  was  the  storming 
of  Chepultepec.  This  took  place  on  the 
18th.  General  Pierce,  on  this  day,  was 
confined  by  illness  to  his  bed.  “I  re- 
gret,” says  the  brave  General  Pillow, 
“that  I was  deprived  of  the  services  of 
my  brave,  talented,  and  accomplished 
Brigadier  General  Pierce,  who  was  con- 
fined to  a sick  bed.” 

Such  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  his 
brother  officers  to  the  bravery  and  effi- 
ciency of  Gen.  Pierce.  Nor  is  this  all. 
The  men  under  his  command  idolized 
him.  After  he  had  led  them  on  in  tri- 
umph, and  the  hour  of  battle  had  passed, 
and  the  camp  was  wrapped  in  the  mantle 
of  night,  his  kind  heartedness  prompted 
him  to  wind  his  way,  unattended,  along 
the  line  of  tents  where  were  to  be  seen 
the  pallid  cheeks  and  exhausted  frames 
of  the  wounded  soldiers.  He  heard  their 
last,  dying  words,  he  received  their  last 
requests,  and  expended  his  last  shilling 
to  procure  those  comforts  that  otherwise 
they  could  not  obtain.  It  was  such 
offices  as  these,  which  were  habitual  with 
him,  that  won  the  love  of  the  soldiers. 

In  December,  after  it  was  ascertained 
3 


that  there  would  be  no  more  fighting, 
Gen.  Pierce  left  Mexico  for  home.  He 
left  the  service  with  the  respect,  regret, 
and  admiration  of  all.  “ I am  sorry  he 
is  a-going” — writes  an  officer,  “as  I 
don’t  know  of  a man  who  would  do  bet- 
ter for  the  men  under  his  command,  or 
one  that  the  soldiers  would  like  so  well.” 
Another  writes: — “To  my  great  sur- 
prise, I find  that  Gen.  Pierce  will  leave 
to-morrow,  with  the  train  for  Yera  Cruz. 
He  has  borne  himself  with  great  honor 
and  usefulness  as  a general  officer.  It 
is  said  of  him  here,  that  after  the  terri- 
ble battles  of  the  valley  of  Mexico,  he 
visited  the  wounded  and  dying  soldier, 
and  with  an  untiring  vigilance  and  open 
hand,  administered  without  stint  cr  mea- 
sure, to  the  alleviation  of  their  sufferings. 
We  all  regret,  especially  those  of  us  from 
New  England,  his  purpose  to  retire  from 
the  service.” 

The  American  Star,  published  in  the 
city  of  Mexico,  contained  a lengthy  and 
most  flattering  notice  of  the  services  and 
conduct  of  Gen.  Pierce  in  Mexico,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  departure. 

General  Pierce  arrived  in  Washington 
about  the  middle  of  January.  A Wash- 
ington correspondent  of  the  Baltimore 
Sun  thus  notices  his  career  and  charac- 
ter : — 

“Gen.  Franklin  Pierce  arrived  here 
on  Saturday,  from  Mexico.  This  gallant 
officer  is  on  his  way  to  New  Hampshire, 
on  a visit  to  his  family.  The  general  is 
a young  man,  and  forcibly  reminds  me 
of  the  generals  of  the  revolution.  Full 
of  talent  without  pretension — and  full 
of  military  capacity,  without  military 
bombast.  Once  a senator  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States: — once  tendered 
the  attorney-generalship — the  first  he  re- 
signed before  the  expiration  of  his  term, 
and  the  last  he  declined  when  offered. 
To  his  credit  be  it  said,  that  when  the 
country  called  to  arms  he  was  among  the 
first  who  accepted  the  service  offered 
him.  The  high  opinion  held  of  him  by 
men  and  officers,  evince  the  propriety 
of  the  selection  and  the  capacity  of  the 
man.” 

When  the  troops  came  to  Newport, 
Gen.  Pierce  found  there  was  $240  due 
to  him,  and  he  added  $60  more  to  it, 
making  up  $300,  which  he  spent  in 


18 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


procuring  comforts  for  the  men.  He 
also,  by  his  influence  or  purse,  procured 
them  free  passages  by  the  railroad.  He 
sent,  money  to  many  old  soldiers. 

Gen.  Pierce  returned  to  Concord.  His 
reception  was  most  honorable  to  the  pa- 
triotic citizens  of  that  town.  They  as- 
sembled in  large  numbers,  and  Gen.  Low 
acted  as  the  president  of  the  day.  Gen. 
Pierce  was  accompanied  by  Lieutenant 
Thomas  P.  Pierce,  of  the  ninth  regiment, 
his  acting  aid,  and  Lieut.  Gove,  of  the 
same  regiment.  Gen.  Low,  on  address- 
ing the  citizens,  first  alluded  to  the  ob- 
ject of  the  meeting;  he  paid  a tribute 
to  the  high  motives  and  profound  sense 
of  honor  from  which  Gen.  Pierce  acted; 
he  described  the  triumphs  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  as  it  planted  the  American  flag 
on  the  Mexican  capitol.  Gen.  Low  con- 
cluded as  follows : — 

11  Here  we  see  our  friend  triumphantly 
leading  on  his  command.  But  this  is 
not  all  we  see  of  him.  We  behold  the 
camp  after  the  hour  of  battle  has  passed 
away.  We  behold  it  wrapped  in  the 
silence  of  night.  We  see  the  killed  and 
the  wounded,  and  we  look  for  our  friend. 
We  find  him  unattended,  passing  through 
the  long  line  of  tents,  in  which  were  to 
be  seen  the  pallid  cheek  and  exhausted 
frame  of  the  dying  soldier.  To  minister 
to  them  is  the  business  of  his  lonely 
rounds.  He  visits  the  tents;  he  hears 
their  last  words,  and  receives  their  last 
mortal  requests,  and  expends  upon  them 
his  last  shilling  to  procure  for  them  ne- 
cessaries which  they  could  not,  in  such 
a place,  otherwise  obtain.  Is  not  such 
a son  worthy  of  the  state  that  gave  him 
birth  ?”  [Cheers.]  Turning  to  General 
Pierce,  hfe  continued: — “I  can  say  no 
more,  sir.  Your  services  are  under- 
stood here;  and  now,  in  the  name  of 
this  meeting,  and  in  my  own  behalf 
likewise,  I bid  you  a hearty  welcome 
home  to  your  adopted  town.  And  in  the 
name  of  all  the  people  in  every  town  in 
this  state,  I congratulate  you  upon  your 
safe  return  to  the  capital  of  your  native 
state/7 

Gen.  Pierce  now  advanced  to  the  front 
of  the  platform  to  reply.  He  labored 
under  deep  emotions,  the  nature  of  which 
could  be  well  gathered  from  the  tone 
and  topics  of  his  remarks.  Although 


one  of  the  most  forcible  and  fluent 
speakers  in  the  country,  on  this  occa- 
sion he  avoided  every  thing  in  the  shape 
of  speaking  for  effect.  He  spoke  of 
matters  which  intensely  interested  , his 
audience.  He  said  — 

“ Whatever  had  been  his  portion  of 
the  dangers  encountered,  or  exposure 
endured,  or  the  long  sad  days  and  sleep- 
less nights  of  those  he  had  left  behind, 
none  of  which  would  have  occurred  to 
him  but  for  the  remarks  of  the  presi- 
dent, he  had  been  more  than  compen- 
sated by  the  reception  he  had  met,  set- 
ting aside  the  consciousness  of  duty 
performed.  He  felt  an  embarrassment  in 
addressing  the  meeting  that  he  could 
hardly  account  for.  He  felt  profoundly 
grateful  to  that  Being,  who  not  only 
watches  over  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
but  over  the  welfare  of  the  humblest 
individual.  He  did  not  take  to  himself 
the  honor  of  attracting  such  a numerous 
and  excited  assembly  as  stood  before 
and  around  him.  The  gathering  was  on 
account  of  the  great  number  of  their 
gallant  sons,  brothers,  and  friends,  that 
had  formed  part  of  his  command.  They 
had  come  to  hear  not  only  of  those  who 
live,  but  of  those  who,  having  displayed 
their  devotion  to  their  country,  now  re- 
pose on  a foreign  soil.  A set  speech  to 
an  audience  actuated  by  the  feelings 
which  he  perceived,  would  be  altogether 
out  of  place.  It  would  be  a sort  of  de- 
secration to  attempt  any  display  on  such 
occasions.  Upon  the  main  topic  which 
they  must  be  anxious  to  hear  about,  he 
could  not  frame  a set  speech.  They 
wanted  to  hear  of  the  ninth  regiment, 
the  glorious  New  England  regiment, 
which  was  assembled  in  such  hot  haste, 
and  in  such  hot  haste  met  the  enemy. 
There  was  not  a generous  or  just  man 
in  the  state  who  had  not  pronounced  in 
favor  of  their  motives.  Laying  aside  all 
the  ties  of  home,  and  the  fair  promises  of 
youth  and  its  enjoyments,  and  suffering 
the  partings  which  press  the  life-blood 
from  out  young  hearts,  they  responded 
to  their  country’s  call,  with  a high  moral 
purpose  that  could  not  be  exceeded. 

During  the  three  weeks  at  YeraCruz, 
caused  by  the  want  of  mules  and  wagons, 
for  transportation- — a delay  aggravated 
by  wide-spread  sickness — he  never  heard 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


19 


a murmur  from  a soldier  under  his  com- 
mand. A more  cheerful  set  of  lads  they 
could  not ’have  been  if  they  had  been  at 
home  by  their  own  happy  firesides.  Their 
subsequent  exploits  had  been  read  in  the 
official  reports.  He  would  not  detail 
them.  On  the  march,  in  the  fight,  every 
where,  one  predominant  feeling  ani- 
mated them.  The  question  was  not, 
who  should  be  ordered  forward;  but 
which  corps  should  be  allowed  to  go 
forward  first  against  the  enemy.  At 
night  they  wnre  cheerful  in  their  tents, 
and  longing  for  the  morning,  which 
should  bring  with  it  the  order  to  move 
forward  to  battle.  New  Hampshire  had 
no  occasion  for  any  other  feeling  than 
that  of  pride  in  regard  to  her  sons  who 
belonged  to  the  command.  They  had 
proved  themselves  brave,  devoted,  self- 
sacrificing  spirits.  And  Concord,  too, 
was  well  represented  among  them.  There 
was  Henry  Caldwell,  one  of  the  bravest 
and  most  determined  soldiers  in  the 
army.  There  was  Sergeant  Stowell,  who 
was  shot  plump  through  the  heart  at 
Cherubusco.  As  his  last  breath  flowed 
he  whispered  to  me — ‘Do  the  boys  say 
I behaved  well  ? If  I have,  write  home 
to  my  people/  Then  there  was  brave  Ser- 
geant Pike  who  had  his  leg  shot  off  in 
advancing  along  a causeway  swept  by 
three  batteries.  Two  amputations  which 
did  not  answer  the  purpose,  were  per- 
formed, and  a third  was  deemed  hopeless. 
Die  he  must,  it  was  thought;  ‘I  know 
better  than  they  do/  he  said.  ‘IT1  try 
another;  and  when  they  cut  it  again,  I 
hope  they  will  cut  it  so  that  it  will  stay 
cut/  A third  amputation  was  performed, 
and  he  lived  through  it.  He  and  the 
others  named  were  printers.  In  the  new 
levies,  the  printers  exceed  by  twenty  per 
cent  those  of  any  other  vocations;  and 
on  account  of  their  intelligence  and  high 
spirit  they  have  proved  the  most  efficient 
soldiers  in  the  field.” 

General  Pierce  also  named  Brown  and 
Swett,  of  Concord,  as  particularly  distin- 
guished; and  Capt.  Cady  and  Lieuts. 
Potter  and  Dana,  of  the  old  line.  Nor 
did  he  forget  Sergeant  West,  of  Man- 
chester, who  fell  at  the  head  of  his  co- 
lumn; and  was  always  there  when  there 
was  any  fighting  to  be  done.  But  in  men- 
tioning the  men  of  New  Hampshire,  or 


of  New  England,  he  would  claim  for 
them  no  superiority  over  others.  The 
present  army  was  made  up  of  artillery, 
cavalry,  the  old  army,  and  the  new  levies, 
representing  every  state  of  the  Union, 
and  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  man  to 
say  which  had  done  the  best  service. 
To  many  it  had  been  matter  of  great 
surprise  that  the  new  levies  had  fought 
as  they  had  done.  But  it  is  in  the  race. 
He  would  take  from  the  audience  before 
him  a regiment  who  would  do  the  same. 
In  executing  manoeuvres  and  in  forming 
combinations  in  front  of  an  enemy,  by 
wheeling,  countermarching,  &c.,  old  sol- 
diers are  undoubtedly  better;  but  when 
it  came  to  close  fighting,  as  in  storming 
or  charging,  it  was  the  man  that  did  the 
work,  and  not  the  manoeuvring  : and  in 
such  work,  the  men  who  had  never  be- 
fore been  under  fire  or  handled  a bayo- 
net, stood  well  side  by  side  with  the 
long  trained  soldier.  Another  cause  of 
the  success  of  our  troops,  new  and  old, 
was  the  conduct  of  the  officers,  who, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  led  and 
cheered  on  their  columns.  Hence  the 
disproportion  in  the  loss  of  officers  and 
men.  Hence  the  loss  of  that  most  brave 
and  accomplished  of  officers  of  the  ten 
new  regiments — Colonel  Hansom.  He 
kept  pressing  up — pressing  up — till  he 
was  shot  dead  at  the  head  of  his  column. 
The  same  was  true  of  Col.  Martin  Scott, 
the  first  shot  in  the  army — a son  of  New 
Hampshire.  He  raised  himself  above 
the  protection  of  a wall.  A brother  offi- 
cer begged  him  not  to  expose  himself 
unnecessarily.  He  replied : — “ Martin 
Scott  has  never  yet  stooped.”  The  next 
moment  a shot  passed  through  his  heart. 
He  fell  upon  his  back,  deliberately 
placed  his  cap  upon  his  breast  and  died. 
Col.  Graham,  after  receiving  six  severe 
wounds,  continued  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  and  upon  receiving  a seventh 
through  the  heart,  slowly  dropped  from 
his  horse,  and  as  he  fell  upon  the  ground, 
said : — “ Forward,  my  men  ! — my  word 
is  always — forward !”  And  so  saying,  he 
died. 

Having  referred  to  Lieuts.  Foster  and 
Daniels,  and  to  several  officers  of  the  old 
army,  General  Pierce  proceeded  to  say 
he  had  to  retract  opinions  he  had  formerly 
entertained  and  expressed  in  relation  to 


20 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


the  military  academy  at  West  Point. 
He  was  now  of  the  opinion  that  the  city 
of  Mexico  could  not  have  been  entered 
in  the  way  it  was,  but  for  the  intelligence 
and  science  in  military  affairs  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  old  army,  mostly  from  West 
Point.  Services  were  rendered  by  the 
officers  of  the  topographical  engineers 
and  ordnance  which  could  not  have  been 
rendered  but  by  men  who  had  received 
the  most  complete  military  education. 
The  force  of  the  Americans  had  been 
overrated.  Only  7,500  effective  men  left 
Puebla  to  attack  a city  of  250,000  inha- 
bitants, defended  by  35,000  of  the  best 
troops  ever  raised  in  Mexico,  100  pieces 
of  cannon,  and  the  finest  fortifications 
ever  raised,  in  addition  to  the  natural 
defences  of  marshes  and  lakes. 

In  conclusion,  he  said  he  was  not  here 
to  discuss  any  matters  of  controversy, 
but  to  meet  his  friends.  Yet  the  subject  of 
the  war  was  necessarily  presented  to  their 
consideration  by  the  occasion.  Before 
entering  in  it,  it  was  his  belief  that  the 
war  had  been  irresistibly  pressed  upon 
us.  If  he  had  doubted  before,  conver- 
sations he  had  had  with  the  most  intel- 
ligent Mexicans  would  have  confirmed 
him  in  the  opinion  that  the  war  was 
unavoidable  on  our  part.  Four  of  the 
Mexican  commissioners  were  in  favor 
of  the  propositions  submitted  by  Mr. 
Trist,  but  they  were  overawed  by  threats 
and  demonstrations  of  the  mob  in  Mex- 
ico, stimulated  by  opponents  to  the  then 
existing  government.  Even  now  the  peo- 
ple will  go  to  the  last  extremity  against  a 
peace.  They  say  it  is  the  first  time  within 
the  last  twenty  years  that  they  have  been 
under  any  protection.  They  are  in  favor 
of  merging  the  nationality  of  Mexico  in 
that  of  the  United  States.  They  say 
they  care  nothing  for  a nationality  which 
has  afforded  them  no  protection  in  either 
civil  or  political  rights.  Their  rights  are 
protected  by  American  arms. 

Again,  the  course  a very  large  num- 
ber of  the  public  presses  in  the  United 
States  have  pursued,  has  created  ob- 
stacles to  peace.  Mexican  papers  are 
filled  with  articles  and  speeches  from  the 
United  States,  denouncing  the  war  on 
our  part  and  justifying  Mexico.  The 
Mexican  editors  publish  them,  with  the 
remark  that  nothing  remains  to  be  added 


by  them  to  make  out  the  justice  of  their 
course  towards  the  United  States.  On 
the  same  day  that  he  saw  in  a Jalapa 
paper  a whole  page  of  extracts  from 
American  papers,  he  saw  stuck  on  the 
trees  the  proclamation  of  Salas  to  the 
guerillas,  ending  with  the  watchword — 
u Death  to  the  Yankees,  without  mercy !” 
Thus  was  furnished  from  our  own  coun- 
try the  food  which  fed  the  ferocity  that 
pursued  the  army  at  every  turn,  and 
caused  the  butchering  of  every  soldier 
who  fell  into  their  hands.  In  the  office 
of  the  secretary  in  Mexico,  extracts  from 
American  papers  were  found  filed  away 
in  their  pigeon  holes.  They  had  been 
used  in  framing  their  proclamations. 

Should  the  Mexicans  find  the  Ameri- 
cans standing  together  on  the  question 
of  the  war,  peace  would  follow  almost 
instantaneously.  An  opportunity  is  now 
presented  to  make  peace  by  strengthen- 
ing the  hands  of  President  Herrera, 
and  the  peace  party,  who  have  obtained 
a majority  in  Congress.” 

General  Pierce  continued  to  renew  his 
expressions  of  gratitude  for  his  reception. 

This  year  the  legislature  voted  Gene- 
ral Pierce  a splendid  sword  as  a token 
of  their  approbation  of  his  gallantry  in 
the  field  and  their  esteem  for  him  as  a 
man.  This  was  presented  to  him  in  be- 
half of  the  state,  by  the  governor.  Gen. 
Pierce  made  an  eloquent  and  beautiful 
reply.  After  alluding  to  the  fact  that 
out  of  the  six  hundred  and  forty  men 
who  went  with  him  to  Mexico,  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  lived  to  return, 
he  said : — 

“I  accept  this  splendid  weapon  from 
the  people  of  New  Hampshire  with  an 
abiding  sense  of  the  personal  regard 
which  has  never  seemed  to  grow  cold. 
May  I not  be  permitted  to  say,  without 
reference  to  my  political  associations,  that 
I receive  it  as  one  among  multiplied  evi- 
dences, so  far  as  the  men  of  my  own 
time  of  life  are  concerned,  of  something 
like  a fraternal  esteem  and  confidence, 
which  it  has  been  my  highest  purpose 
to  merit,  and  is  my  firmest  never  to  lose. 
In  the  mean  time,  I am  not  unmindful 
of  another  and  higher  consideration 
which  actuated  the  legislature.  The 
sword,  though  given  to  me,  was  designed 
and  received  as  a token  of  the  estimation 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


21 


in  which  you  hold  the  services  and  sacri- 
fices of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
brigade  which  it  was  my  good  fortune 
to  command;  and  to  them  I would  have 
the  grateful  thoughts  of  my  friends 
turned  to  day;  to  the  noble  dead;  to  the 
men  who  with  their  life-blood,  sealed 
their  devotion  to  the  rights  and  honor 
of  the  republic;  to  the  gallant  living, 
who  having  fulfilled  their  mission  amid 
the  untried  scenes  of  an  eventful  cam- 
paign on  a foreign  soil,  are  now  unob- 
trusively and  usefully  pursuing  the  avo- 
cations of  civil  life  at  home. 

“ Your  thoughts  and  purposes  in  this 
matter  are  not  circumscribed  by  the 
limits  of  New  Hampshire  or  New  Eng- 
land. You  embrace  the  twelfth  and 
fifteenth  regiments  no  less  warmly  than 
the  ninth.  It  will  ever  be  a matter  of 
gratification  to  me,  that  the  three  regi- 
ments of  my  brigade  were  composed  of 
men  from  the  extreme  south,  north,  and 
west  of  the  Union,  because  it  illustrated, 
in  an  hour  of  trial  and  danger,  that  unity 
which  is  our  strength.  The  question 
never  arose,  during  the  varied  scenes  of 
that  summer,  on  what  side  of  a geo- 
graphical line  a man  was  born  or  reared ; 
he  stood  upon  the  field  by  your  side,  an 
American  officer  or  an  American  soldier, 
with  an  American  heart — and  that  was 
enough  for  any  of  us  to  know.  It  was 
a glorious  brotherhood.  The  highest 
hope  of  patriotism  looks  to  the  perma- 
nence and  all-pervading  power  of  that 
feeling.  It  is  the  panoply  under  which 
whatever  is  dear  and  precious  in  our  in- 
stitutions will  repose  in  security.  Over 
it  may  the  stars  and  stripes  float  for- 
ever !” 

The  Constitution  of  New  Hampshire 
contains  provisions  at  war  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  and  discreditable  to  the  in- 
telligence of  the  state;  and  her  able 
and  liberal  statesmen  have  long  warred 
against  them.  One  of  them  is  the  reli- 
gious test,  in  theory  excluding  Catholics 
from  office,  though  practically  it  is  a dead 
letter.  In  1850,  a convention  was  called 
to  revise  the  Constitution,  and  General 
Pierce  was  elected  a member  from  Con- 
cord. This  convention  met  at  the  New 
Hampshire  state  house,  on  the  6th  of 
November.  It  consisted  of  two  hundred 
and  ninety  members,  comprising  a fine 


representation  of  the  intelligence,  the 
political  and  judicial  service,  and  moral 
worth  of  the  granite  state.  A more  re- 
spectable assembly  never  assembled  in 
its  borders.  Gen.  Pierce  was  elected  its 
president,  and  it  afforded  a most  grati- 
fying proof  of  the  estimation  in  which 
he  was  held  by  his  native  state.  No 
man  in  it  was  more  competent  to  dis- 
charge this  service;  and  the  prompt, 
impartial,  and  dignified  manner  in  which 
he  performed  the  duties  of  a presiding 
officer,  \yon  him  new  laurels.  Nor  was 
this  all.  When  some  of  the  obnoxious 
features  of  the  Constitution  were  under 
discussion,  he  left  the  chair,  mingled  in 
the  debate,  and  gave  his  influence  to 
have  them  expunged.  Such,  for  instance, 
was  his  course  as  to  the  proposition  to 
strike  out  the  test  requirement  of  the 
Constitution  ; which  provides  that  some 
of  the  principal  offices  shall  not  be  filled 
except  by  persons  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion. Gen.  Pierce,  in  his  speech  on 
this  occasion,  declared  that  undoubtedly 
this  test  had  been  a stigma  on  the  state 
at  home  and  abroad;  that  he  had  felt 
keenly  the  reproof;  that  it  was  unworthy 
the  intelligence  and  liberal  spirit  of  his 
countrymen.  Indeed,  he  said,  such  were 
his  views  that  with  him  it  was  no  longer 
an  open  question,  and  rejoiced  that  the 
occasion  had  arrived  when  the  obnoxious 
form  would  be  dispensed  with.  “The 
great  question  of  religious  toleration,” 
he  said,  “was  practically  settled,  and 
settled  in  a manner  never  to  be  reversed, 
while  we  retained  our  present  form  of 
government,  more  than  thirty  years  ago.” 
The  test,  at  least,  had  been  a dead  letter, 
a blank,  on  the  statute  book.  These 
were  views  that  had  been  ever  entertained 
by  Gen.  Pierce,  and  no  man  in  the  state 
had  taken  a more  decided  stand  on  this 
question.  Its  abolition  was  triumph- 
antly carried  in  the  convention.  And 
when  the  people  of  Concord  assembled 
in  town  meeting  to  vote  on  the  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  submitted  by 
this  convention,  Gen.  Pierce  attended 
and  made  another  eloquent  speech  in 
favor  of  the  great  principle  of  religious 
freedom. 

Gen.  Pierce  from  this  time  continued 
in  the  assiduous  pursuit  of  his  profession. 
But  he  also  kept  warmly  interested  in 


22 


LIFE  OF  GEN-  FRANKLIN  FIERCE. 


tbc  politics  of  the  time;  and  irt  the 
critical  period  that  elicited  the  compro- 
mise measures,  he  once  more  became  an 
active  politician.  His  views  as  to  these 
measures,  which  were  then  pending,  were 
expressed  in  a private  letter,  dated  May 
9th,  1850,  and  addressed  to  a distin- 
guished democratic  senator : — 

“ I have  been  so  constantly  occupied 
in  court,  that  no  leisure  moment  has 
presented  itself  for  the  acknowledgment 
of  your  noble  speech  upon  Mr.  Bell’s 
proposition  for  a compromise  of  the 
question  which  has  so  deeply  agitated 
Congress  and  the  country  during  the 
last  few  months.  I appreciate  your  kind 
remembrance  of  me  personally.  As  a 
New  Hampshire  man,  I hear  your  name 
pronounced  only  with  pride;  as  an  Ame- 
rican citizen,  I acknowledge  with  grati- 
tude, the  eminent  public  services  that 
have  signalized  your  course  along  the 
whole  line  of  your  useful  life. 

“It  grieves  me  to  observe,  that  the 
spirit  of  concession  and  honorable  com- 
promise is  not  stronger  and  more  per- 
vading at  Washington.  I have  no  ap- 
prehension that  the  disruption  of  this 
Union  is  at  hand;  but  1 foresee  conse- 
quences appalling  in  this  daily  use  ofj 
the  terms  i north  and  south,’  as  terms 
of  antagonism.  What  arc  the  north  and 
south  but  the  component  parts  of  our 
common  country — parts  that  should  be 
regarded  as  absolutely  inseparable;  not 
united  merely  by  reciprocal  rights  and 
obligations  arising  under  the  constitu- 
tion, but  bound  together  by  tics  of  affec- 
tion, common  interest,  and  reciprocal 
respect;  recognizing  at  all  times,  and 
above  all,  that  noble  band  of  brother- 
hood which  concentrated  the  genius,  and 
courage,  and  patriotism,  that  achieved 
our  independence,  that  has  sustained  the 
country  in  all  its  trials — that  bond  to 
which  the  republic  is  indebted  for  a ca- 
reer more  rapid  and  wonderful,  than  any 
that  has  hitherto  marked  the  march  of 
civilization  and  civil  liberty? 

“You  have  doubtless  observed  that  a 
great  effort  is  being  made  to  give  cur- 
rency to  the  impression,  that  the  opinions 
and  sentiments  advanced  by  yourself, 
find  nothing  like  a general  response  in 
New  England.  I dc  not  believe  the  fact 
to  be  so  in  this  state.  Our  people  set 


a value  upon  the  Union  which  language 
cannot  express;  they  look  for  a compro- 
mise— expect  a compromise — conceived 
in  the  spirit  of  justice  and  patriotism, 
firmly  and  manfully.” 

On  the  20th  of  November,  at  Man- 
chester, he  took  part  in  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  important  political  meet- 
ings ever  held  in  New  Hampshire.  It 
was  one  of  the  Union  meetings  which  was 
called  at  that  period  in  order  to  give  a 
pledge  of  fidelity  to  the  Union,  the  Con- 
stitution, and  the  laws.  A delegation 
of  five  hundred  went  from  Concord  to 
attend  this  gathering.  On  being  intro- 
duced by  the  president,  Gen.  Pierce 
was  received  with  the  most  enthusiastic 
cheers.  Though  he"  disclaimed  any  pur- 
pose of  making  a regular  address,  yet  he 
made  an  eloquent  appeal  in  behalf  of  a 
performance  of  constitutional  duties.  In 
the  course  of  it  the  following  scene  oc- 
curred : — 

“He  was  in  the  United  States  Senate 
when  that  word  was  heard  for  the  first 
time  on  that  floor;  and  never  should  he 
forget  the  thrill  of  horror  it  sent  through 
that  body.  A deep  and  solemn  pause 
ensued,  and  senators  shuddered  as  they 
| slowly  turned  their  eyes  upon  the  bold 
author  of  the  appalling  suggestion.  But 
he  had  now  lived  to  hear  hisses  while  one 
of  the  secretaries  of  the  meeting  was 
reading  a resolution  in  favor  of  union. 
[This  remark  drew  hisses,  and  General 
Pierce  proceeded.]  They  hiss  again.  Let 
the  men  who  do  it  show  themselves. 
[Up  rose  two  clergymen,  the  Be v.  Mr. 
Foss,  and  the  Bev.  Mr.  Davis — the  for- 
mer a pulpitless  old-line  Baptist,  the 
latter  a freewill  Baptist,  settled  over  a 
congregation  in  the  place.]  Here,  then, 
(said  Gen.  P.,)  we  have  men  who  seek 
to  destroy  the  Union.  [One  of  them 
replied : ‘ No.  If  you  will  let  us  explain, 
we  will  show  that  we  do  not  intend  that. 
We  are  willing  to  meet  the  question, 
however,  any  way.’]  Gen.  Pierce  con- 
tinued:— You  shall  have  your  opportu- 
nity all  in  good  time.  Let  the  discus- 
sion come,  and  he  that  is  defeated  must 
go  to  the  wall  and  yield  the  question. 
That  is  the  way  to  manage  such  matters 
in  a free  country.  There  must  be  no 
breaking  up  of  the  government  in  case 
of  defeat.  If  we  are  precipitated  into  a 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


23 


war  by  fanaticism,  we  cannot  conquer. 
Both  sections  of  the  country  may  be 
immolated.  Neither  could  come  out  of 
the  contest  short  of  ruin.  It  was  said 
that  we  of  the  north  could  bring  two 
men  into  the  field  for  every  one  that  the 
south  could  muster;  but  it  would  be 
found,  when  the  trial  should  come,  that 
the  man  who  now  makes  that  boast, 
would  not  be  one  of  the  two  men  who 
was  to  go  forth  to  meet  even  the  one 
man  from  the  south.  [Great  cheering.] 
“Gen.  Pierce  said  the  men  then  in 
the  hall  who  had  abandoned  themselves 
to  the  infatuation  of  disunion  sentiments, 
would  probably  live  to  regret  and  repent 
of  their  present  course.  In  the  coming 
days  of  decrepitude,  when  the  infirmities 
of  age  shall  have  crept  upon  them,  they 
would  gather  their  children  around  them, 
and  confess  how  they  were  once  betrayed 
into  moral  treason ; and  as  a legacy  say 
to  them,  ‘Stand  by  your  Union,  and 
stand  by  your  country/  He  said  he 
deemed  it  unnecessary  to  go  into  a for- 
mal argument  in  support  of  the  Union. 
The  resolutions  embraced  all  that  could 
be  said  on  that  subject.  When  the  com- 
promise was  first  proposed  in  Congress, 
he  had  no  doubt  that  the  Union  would 
go  down  unless  the  measures  recom- 
mended were  carried.  The  defeat  of  the 
first  attempt  overwhemed  him  with  ap- 
prehension, understanding  that  the  com- 
promise was  intended  to  give  to  the  SGuth 
a sense  of  greater  security  for  one  of 
their  rights,  than  they  felt  they  had  for 
some  time  past  possessed.  Who  did  not 
deplore  slavery?  But  what  sound-think- 
ing mind  regarded  that  as  the  only  evil 
which  could  rest  upon  the  land?  The 
men  who  would  dissolve  the  Union  did 
not  hate  or  deplore  slavery  more  than 
he  did;  but  even  with  it  we  have  lived 
in  peace,  prosperity,  and  security  from 
the  foundation  of  our  institutions  to  the 
present  time.  If  the  Constitution  pro- 
vided for  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves, 
it  should  be  done.  That  was  what  he 
wanted  to  do ; that  was  what  our  fathers 
agreed  we  should  do;  and  that  was  what 
the  friends  of  the  Union  established  by 
them,  wanted  to  do.  [Hisses.]  There, 
said  Gen.  P.,  are  the  arguments  of  the 
‘'higher  law/  I suppose/' 

It  was  in  connection  with  these  mea- 


sures that  the  New  Hampshire  demo- 
cracy made  a bold  movement  as  to  their 
candidate  for  Governor,  Mr.  Atwood. 
After  he  had  been  long  in  nomination, 
and  within  three  weeks  of  the  election, 
it  was  ascertained  that  he  had  written 
letters  in  favor  of  a repeal  of  one  of 
these  measures  which  were  acceptable 
to  the  free  soil  party.  Prompt  action  was 
taken;  the  same  convention  that  put 
Mr.  Atwood  in  nomination  was  re-assem- 
bled, a new  candidate  was  elected  ; and 
though  the  democratic  party  did  not 
succeed  in  electing  him  by  the  people, 
he  was  elected  by  the  Legislature.  Gen. 
Pierce  had  an  important  agency  in  this 
movement.  Though  Mr.  Atwood  had 
long  been  his  fellow  townsman  and  al- 
ways a personal  friend,  yet  the  general 
prosecuted  an  active  canvass  against  him, 
and  contributed  more  than  any  other 
man  to  effect  his  overthrow.  This  year 
(1852)  the  democracy  have  been  again 
victorious — the  bold  movement  of  the 
preceding  year  having  been  sustained. 
A jubilee  was  held  by  the  Manchester 
democracy  on  the  occasion  of  this  re- 
newed triumph,  to  which  Gen.  Pierce 
was  invited.  His  reply  was  as  follows — • 

u Concord,  March  16, 1852. 

My  Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  of  the 
12th  inst.  was  duly  received.  I yield 
with  extreme  reluctance  to  circumstances, 
which  deny  me  the  pleasure  of  partici- 
pating in  your  jubilee.  The  victory 
seems  to  lack  no  element  of  complete- 
ness. It  is  the  triumph  of  right  over 
wrong — of  the  democracy  single-handed 
over  all  factions  and  all  combinations, — 
of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union  over  virtual  treason  to  both. — • 
Present  my  thanks  to  the  committee  of 
arrangements,  my  congratulations  to  the 
meeting,  and  with  them,  if  you  please, 
the  subjoined  sentiment. 

In  haste,  your  friend, 

Frank.  Pierce. 

Hon.  Samuel  H,  Ayer. 

The  Compromise  Measures  of  1850, 
and  the  New  Hampshire  Democracy — 
Upon  the  former,  the  latter  have  fixed 
the  seal  of  their  emphatic  approbation. 
No  north,  no  south,  no  east,  no  west, 
under  the  constitution — but  a sacred 
maintenance,  of  the  common  bond  and 


24 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


true  devotion  to  the  common  brother-  ) 
hood.” 

In  January,  1852,  the  democracy  of 
New  Hampshire  in  convention  presented 
General  Pierce  as  the  democratic  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency.  This  elicited 
the  following  letter  of  declination. 

Concord,  January  12th,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir, — -I  take  the  liberty  to 
address  you,  because  no  channel  more 
appropriate  occurs  to  me  through  which 
to  express  my  thanks  to  the  convention 
over  which  you  presided  on  the  8th  in- 
stant, and  to  the  masses  there  repre- 
sented. 

I am  far  from  being  insensible  to 
the  steady  and  generous  confidence  so 
often  manifested  towards  me  by  the  peo- 
ple of  this  state;  and  although  the  ob- 
ject indicated  in  the  resolution,  having 
particular  reference  to  myself,  be  not  one 
of  desire  on  my  part,  the  expression  is 
not  on  that  account,  less  gratifying. 

Doubtless  the  spontaneous  and  just 
appreciation  of  an  intelligent  people,  is 
the  best  earthly  reward  for  earnest  and 
eheerful  services  rendered  to  one’s  state 
and  country;  and  while  it  is  a matter 
of  unfeigned  regret  that  my  life  has 
been  so  barren  of  usefulness,  I shall 
ever  hold  this  and  similar  tributes 
among  my  most  cherished  recollections. 

To  these,  my  sincere  and  grateful 
acknowledgments,  I desire  to  add,  that 
the  same  motive  which  induced  me  seve- 
ral years  ago  to  retire  from  public  life, 
and  which  since  that  time  has  controlled 
my  judgment  in  this  respect,  now  impel 
me  to  say,  that  the  use  of  my  name,  in 
any  event,  before  the  Democratic  Na- 
tional Convention  at  Baltimore,  to  which 
you  are  a delegate,  would  be  utterly  re- 
pugnant to  my  tastes  and  wishes.  I am, 
with  the  highest  respect  and  esteem, 
Your  friend, 

Frank.  Pierce. 

Hon.  Chas.  G.  Atherton,  Nashville,  N.H. 

The  last  letter  of  General  Pierce  be- 
fore the  meeting  of  the  National  Con- 
vention, was  the  following  addressed  to 
Colonel  Lally  of  New  Hampshire  : — 

Tremont  House,  Boston,  May  27th,  1852. 

“I  intended  to  speak  to  you  more 
fully  upon  the  subject  of  the  compromise 
measures  than  I had  an  opportunity  to 


do.  The  importance  of  the  action  of 
the  Convention  upon  this  question  can- 
not be  over-estimated.  I believe  there 
will  be  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
south  to  press  resolutions  unnecessarily 
offensive  to  the  sentiments  of  the  north. 
But  can  we  say  as  much  on  our  side? 
Will  the  north  come  cheerfully  up  to  the 
mark  of  constitutional  right?  If  not,  a 
breach  in  our  party  is  inevitable.  The 
matter  should  be  met  at  the  threshold, 
because  it  rises  above  party,  and  looks 
at  the  very  existence  of  the  confede- 
racy. 

“The  sentiment  of  no  one  state  is  to 
be  regarded  upon  this  subject;  but  hav- 
ing fought  the  battle  in  New  Hampshire 
upon  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  upon 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  ground  of 
constitutional  right,  we  should  of  course 
desire  the  approval  of  the  democracy  of 
the  country.  What  I wish  to  say  to  you 
is  this..  If  the  compromise  measures  are 
not  to  be  substantially  and  firmly  main- 
tained, the  plain  rights  secured  by  the 
constitution  will  be  trampled  in  the  dust. 
What  difference  can  it  make  to  you  or 
me,  whether  the  outrage  shall  seem  to 
fall  on  South  Carolina,  or  Maine,  or  New 
Hampshire  ? Are  not  the  rights  of  each 
equally  dear  to  us  all  ? I will  never 
yield  to  a craven  spirit  that  from  con- 
siderations of  policy,  would  endanger 
the  Union.  Entertaining  these  views, 
the  action  of  the  Convention  must,  in 
my  judgment,  be  vital.  If  weof  the  north, 
who  have  stood  by  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  south,  are  to  be  aban- 
doned to  any  time-serving  policy,  the 
hopes  of  democracy  and  of  the  Union 
must  sink  together.  As  I told  you,  my 
name  will  not  be  before  the  Convention ; 
but  I cannot  help  feeling  that  what  there 
is  to  be  done  will  be  important  beyond 
men  and  parties — transcendantly  impor- 
tant to  the  hopes  of  democratic  progress 

and  civil  liberty 

Your  friend, 

Frank.  Pierce. 

Notwithstanding  General  Pierce’s  re- 
peated declinations  of  the  great  honor 
of  a nomination  for  the  presidency,  yet 
this  was  destined  to  fall  to  his  lot.  His 
name  had  been  presented  not  only  by 
New  Hampshire,  but  by  presses  and 
statesmen  in  other  parts  of  the  Union, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


25 


previous  to  the  Baltimore  democratic  na- 
tional convention.  This  body  was  one 
of  the  most  able  and  patriotic  representa- 
tions of  the  party  that  ever  assembled  in 
council.  When  it  was  found  that  neither 
of  the  distinguished  statesmen  whose 
names  had  been  brought  into  the  con- 
vention, could  receive  the  nomination, 
and  that  the  common  sacrifice  of  pre- 
ferences would  be  required  by  the  friends 
of  all,  then  the  high  character,  distin- 
guished services,  and  acknowledged  quali- 
fications of  Gen.  Pierce,  pointed  him  out 
as  a fit  candidate  for  the  great  American 
office,  which  ought  neither  to  be  sought 
nor  declined.  Virginia,  the  mother  of 
the  states,  and  the  birth-place  of  the 
father  of  democracy,  first  gave  her  vote 
for  Gen.  Pierce.  Other  states  followed. 
And  the  nomination  was  made  amidst 
an  enthusiam  which  has  been  rarely 
equalled,  and  which  could  net  be  sur- 
passed. It  was  made  not  only  in  a spirit 
of  wise  statesmanship,  but  of  compro- 
mise, conciliation,  and  union.  It  was 
thus  that  this  true  and  modest  son  of  the 
granite  state,  was  made  the  standard- 
bearer  of  the  national  democratic  party. 

We  need  not  detail  here  the  action  of 
that  convention.  It  is  already  widely 
known  that  the  convention  assembled  at 
Baltimore  on  the  2d  of  June,  1852,  and 
after  forty-eight  unsuccessful  ballotings 
for  a candidate  were  had,  Gen.  Pierce, 
on  the  forty-ninth  ballot,  received  two 
hundred  and  eighty- two  votes,  of  the  two 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  that  composed 
the  convention.  His  nomination  was 
then  enthusiastically  and  unanimously 
confirmed. 

It  is  perhaps  not  unworthy  of  remark, 
that  the  New  Hampshire  state  conven- 
tion consisted  of  precisely  the  same  num- 
ber of  delagates  as  the  Baltimore  conven- 
tion, and  the  resolutions  nominating  Gen. 
Pierce  for  the  Presidency,  received  ex- 
actly the  same  number  of  votes. 

The  nomination  of  Gen.  Pierce  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States, — the 
highest  office  in  the  world, — has  been 
every  where  received  by  the  democratic 
4 


party  of  the  nation,  with  an  unparelled 
enthusiasm.  Ratification  meetings  have 
been  held  in  Washington,  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and 
many  other  places,  at  which  addresses 
cordially  approving  the  selection  of  Gen. 
Pierce,  have  been  made  by  every  one 
of  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  were 
named  for  the  high  honor  which  has  so 
worthily  fallen  on  the  distinguished  son 
of  New  Hampshire. 

At  Hillsborough,  the  announcement 
thrilled  like  an  electric  flash  through  the 
hearts  of  the  sterling  democracy  of  that 
fine  old  town — the  birth  place  of  Frank- 
lin Pierce.  The  schoolmates  of  his  boy- 
hood, the  companions  of  his  youth,  and 
the  friends  of  hismaturer  years,  grasped 
each  others’  hands  in  an  ecstacy  of  de- 
light, and  called  down  blessings  upon 
the  head  of  him  in  whose  honors  they 
shared  as  in  the  honors  of  a brother. 
They  had  watched  his  growing  fame 
with  unmeasured  delight.  They  had 
seen  wave  after  wave  of  popular  applause 
bear  him  onward  towards  the  proud 
position  which  he  now  occupies  in  the 
face  of  the  whole  world.  As  a states- 
man and  a soldier,  his  praises  had  been 
recorded  on  every  heart  in  the  land ; and 
at  every  step  of  his  course,  his  townsmen 
had  exclaimed,  “ His  wisdom  and  his 
virtues  have  merited  it  all — his  blushing 
honors  rest  upon  a noble  and  deserving 
brow,  and  in  his  triumphs  we  rejoice  I” 

We  have  thus  rapidly  sketched  the 
past  career  of  him  who  is  destined  to 
be  our  next  President.  That  career  jus- 
tifies us  in  predicting  that  his  adminis- 
tration will  redound  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  our  country — its  affairs  will  be 
administered  in  a prudent,  economical 
manner,  and  the  shameful  peculations 
and  extravagant  expenditures  for  unwor- 
thy purposes,  which  have  disgraced  the 
present  administration,  forever  abolished. 

Above  all,  the  Union — that  Union  so 
dear  to  every  true  American  heart — will 
be  strengthened,  perpetuated  and  handed 
down  to  posterity,  only  the  brighter  from 
its  having  passed  through  a fiery  ordeal. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF  THE 

HON.  WILLIAM  HUTS  KING, 

OF  ALABAMA. 


William  Rufus  King  is  a native  of 
North  Carolina.  He  was  born  on  the  7th 
of  April,  1786.  His  father — William 
King — was  a planter,  in  independent 
circumstances,  whose  ancestors  came 
from  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  were 
among  the  early  settlers  on  James  river, 
in  the  colony  of  Virginia.  He  was 
highly  esteemed  for  his  many  virtues, 
and  was  elected  a member  of  the  state 
convention  which  adopted  the  Federal 
Constitution.  The  mother  of  Mr.  King 
was  descended  from  a Huguenot  family, 
which  had  been  driven  from  France  by 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz. 

William  Rufus  King  received  his  edu- 
cation at  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, to  which  he  was  sent  at  the  early 
age  of  twelve  years.  On  leaving  that 
institution,  where  his  attention  to  his 
studies,  and  uniformly  correct  and  gen- 


tlemanly deportment,  had  commanded 
the  respect  and  regard  of  his  fellows 
and  the  approbation  of  the  professors, 
he  entered  the  law  office  of  William 
Duffy,  a distinguished  lawyer,  residing 
in  the  town  of  Fayetteville,  North  Ca- 
rolina, and  in  the  autumn  of  1805  ob- 
tained a license  to  practice  in  the  supe- 
rior courts  of  the  State.  In  1806  he 
was  elected  a member  of  the  legislature 
of  the  state  from  the  county  of  Sampson, 
in  which  he  was  born.  He  was  again 
elected  in  the  year  following;  but,  on 
the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  he  was 
chosen  solicitor  by  that  body,  and  re- 
signed his  seat.  Mr.  King  contipued  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  until  he 
was  elected  a member  of  Congress  from 
the  Wilmington  district,  which  took 
place  in  August,  1810,  when  he  was 
but  little  more  than  twenty-four  years 
26 


LIFE  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  R.  KING. 


27 


of  age;  but  as  his  predecessor’s  term 
did  not  expire  before  the  4th  of  March, 
1811,  Mr.  King  did  not  take  his  seat 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
until  the  autumn  of  that  year,  being 
the  first  session  of  the  twelfth  Congress. 
This  was  a most  important  period  in 
the  history  of  the  country. 

The  governments  of  England  and 
France  had  for  years  rivalled  each  other 
in  acts  destructive  of  the  neutral  rights, 
and  injurious  to  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States.  Every  effort  had  been 
made— but  in  vain — to  procure  an  aban- 
donment of  orders  in  councils  on  the  one 
hand,  and  decrees  on  the  other,  which 
had  nearly  cut  up  the  commerce  of  the 
country  by  the  roots,  and  a large  majo- 
rity of  the  people  felt  that  to  submit 
longer  to  such  gross  violations  of  their 
rights,  as  a neutral  nation,  would  be 
degrading,  and  they  called  upon  the 
government  to  protect  those  rights,  even 
at  the  hazard  of  a war.  In  this  state  of 
things,  Mr.  King  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  unhesita- 
tingly ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the 
bold  and  patriotic  spirits  in  that  body 
who  had  determined  to  repel  aggression 
— come  from  what  quarter  it  might — 
and  to  maintain  the  rights  and  honor  of 
the  country.  The  withdrawal  of  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  by  France, 
while  England  refused  to  abandon  her 
orders  in  council,  put  an  end  to  all  hesi- 
tation as  to  which  of  those  powers  should 
be  met  in  deadly  strife.  In  June,  1812, 
war  was  declared  against  England,  Mr. 
King  advocating  and  voting  for  the  de- 
claration. He  continued  to  represent  his 
district  in  Congress  during  the  conti- 
nuance of  the  war,  sustaining  with  all 
his  power  every  measure  deemed  neces- 
sary to  enable  the  government  to  prose- 
cute it  to  a successful  termination ; and 
not  until  the  rights  of  the  country  were 
vindicated  and  secured,  and  peace  re- 
stored to  the  land,  did  he  feel  at  liberty 
to  relinquish  the  highly  responsible  posi- 
tion in  which  his  confiding  constituents 
had  placed  him. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  Mr.  King  re- 
signed his  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  accompanied  William 
Pinckney,  of  Maryland,  as  secretary  of 
legation,  first  to  Naples,  then  to  St. 


Petersburgh,  to  which  courts  Mr.  Pinck- 
ney had  been  appointed  minister  pleni- 
potentiary. Mr.  King  remained  abroad 
not  quite  two  years,  having  in  that  time 
visited  the  greater  portion  of  Europe, 
making  himbelf  acquainted  with  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  various  governments, 
and  the  condition  of  their  people.  On 
his  return  to  the  United  States  he  de- 
termined to  remove  to  the  teritory  of 
Alabama,  which  determination  he  carried 
into  effect  in  the  winter  of  1818-19,  and 
fixed  his  residence  in  the  county  of  Dal- 
las, where  he  still  resides.  A few  months 
after  Mr.  King  arrived  in  the  territory 
— Congress  having  authorized  the  people 
to  form  a Constitution  and  establish  a 
state  government — he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  convention.  Mr.  King 
was  an  active,  talented,  and  influential 
member  of  that  body,  was  placed  on  the 
committee  appointed  to  draft  a Constitu- 
tion, and  was  also  selected  by  the  general 
committee,  together  with  Judge  Taylor, 
now  of  the  state  of  Mississippi,  and 
Judge  Henry  Hitchcock — now  no  more 
— to  reduce  it  to  form,  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  and  provisions  pre- 
viously agreed  on.  This  duty  they  per- 
formed in  a manner  satisfactory  to  the 
committee.  The  Constitution  thus  pre- 
pared was  submitted  to  the  convention, 
and  adopted  with  but  slight  alterations. 

On  the  adjournment  of  the  conven- 
tion, Mr.  King  returned  to  his  former 
residence  in  North  Carolina,  where  most 
of  his  property  still  was,  and,  having 
made  his  arrangements  for  its  removal, 
set  out  on  his  return  for  Alabama.  On 
reaching  Milledgeville,  in  the  state  of 
Georgia,  he  received  a letter  from  Go- 
vernor Bibb,  of  Alabama,  informing  him 
that  he  had  been  elected  a senator  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  certificate  of  his  election  had 
been  transmitted  to  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton. This  was  the  first  intimation  which 
Mr.  King  had  that  his  name  even  had 
been  presented  to  the  legislature  for 
that  high  position;  and  injuriously  as  it 
would  affect  his  private  interests — in  the 
then  condition  of  his  affairs — he  did  not 
hesitate  to  accept  the  honor  so  unex- 
pectedly conferred  upon  him,  and,  leav- 
ing his  people  to  pursue  their  way  to 
Alabama,  he  retraced  his  steps  and 


28 


LIFE  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  R.  KING. 


reached  the  city  of  Washington  a few 
days  before  the  meeting  of  Congress. 
His  colleague,  Hon.  John  W.  Walker, 
had  arrived  before  him. 

Alabama  was  admitted  as  a state,  and 
her  senators,  after  taking  the  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  were  required  to  draw  for  their 
term  of  service,  when  Mr.  Walker  drew 
six  years,  and  Mr.  King  four.  At  the 
time  that  Alabama  became  a state  of  the 
Union  the  indebtedness  of  her  citizens 
for  lands  sold  by  the  United  States — 
under  what  was  known  as  the  credit  sys- 
tem— was  nearly  twelve  millions'  of  dol- 
lars. It  was  perfectly  apparent  that  this 
enormous  sum  could  not  be  paid,  and 
that  an  attempt  to  enforce  the  payment 
could  only  result  in  ruin  to  her  people. 
Congress  became  satisfied  that  the  mode 
heretofore  adopted  for  the  disposal  of 
the  public  domain  was  wrong,  and  a law 
was  passed  reducing  the  minimum  price 
from  two  to  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  the  acre,  with  cash  payments.  This 
change  was  warmly  advocated  by  Sena- 
tors Walker  and  King. 

At  the  next  session  a law  was  passed 
authorizing  the  purchasers  of  the  public 
land,  under  the  credit  system,  to  relin- 
quish to  the  government  a portion  of  their 
purchase,  and  to  transfer  the  amount  paid 
on  the  part  relinquished,  so  as  to  make 
complete  payment  on  the  part  retained. 
At  a subsequent  session  another  law  was 
passed,  authorizing  the  original  purcha- 
sers of  the  lands  so  relinquished  to  enter 
them  at  a fixed  rate,  much  below  the 
price  at  which  they  had  been  originally 
sold.  To  the  exertions  of  Senators  King 
and  Walker,  Alabama  is  mainly  indebted 
for  the  passage  of  these  laws,  which  freed 
her  citizens  from  the  heavy  debt  which 
threatened  to  overwhelm  them  with  ruin, 
and  also  enabled  them  to  secure  their 
possessions  upon  reasonable  terms. 

Mr.  King  was  elected  senator  in  1828, 
in  1828,  in  1884,  and  in  1840.  His 
firm  but  conciliatory  course  ensured  for 
him  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
Senate,  and  he  was  repeatedly  chosen  to 
preside  over  that  body  as  president  pro 
tem.,  the  duties  of  which  position  he  dis- 
charged in  a manner  so  satisfactory  that 
at  the  close  of  each  session  a resolution 
was  adopted,  without  a dissenting  voice, 


tendering  him  the  thanks  of  the  body 
for  the  ability  and  impartiality  with 
which  he  had  discharged  those  duties. 

In  the  spring  of  1844,  Mr.  King 
was  offered  the  situation  of  minister  to 
France,  which  he  declined,  as  he  had, 
on  previous  occasions,  refused  to  accept 
other  diplomatic  situations  which  had 
been  tendered  to  him,  preferring,  as  he 
declared,  to  be  a senator  from  Alabama, 
to  any  office  which  could  be  conferred 
on  him  by  the  general  government.  At 
this  time  the  proposition  for  the  annex- 
ation of  Texas  was  pending,  and  there 
was  but  too  much  reason  to  believe  that 
the  British  government  was  urging  that 
of  France  to  unite  with  her  in  a protest 
against  such  annexation.  It  was,  there- 
fore, of  the  highest  importance  to  pre- 
vent, if  possible,  such  joint  protest  as, 
should  it  be  made,  must  have  inevitably 
resulted  in  producing  hostilities  with  one 
or  both  of  these  powers;  for  no  one  for 
a moment  believed  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  would  be  deterred 
from  carying  out  a measure  which  she 
considered  essential  to  her  interests  from 
any  apprehension  of  consequences  which 
might  result  from  any  combination  of 
the  powers  of  Europe.  Mr.  King  was 
a decided  advocate  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas;  and  when  urged  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  many  of  his  friends  in  Con- 
gress to  accept  the  mission,  he  consented 
under  these  circumstances,  to  give  up 
his  seat  in  the  Senate.  Mr.  King,  feel- 
ing the  importance  of  prompt  action,  did 
not  even  return  to  his  home  to  arrange 
his  private  affairs,  but  repaired  at  once  to 
New  York,  and  took  passage  for  Havre. 
Arriving  in  Paris,  he  obtained  an  audi- 
ence with  the  King,  presented  his  cre- 
dentials, and  at  once  entered  upon  the 
object  of  his  mission.  After  frequent 
conferences  with  the  King  of  the  French, 
who  had  kindly  consented  that  he  might 
discuss  the  subject  with  him,  without 
going  through  the  usual  routine  of  com- 
municating through  the  foreign  office, 
Mr.  King  succeeded  in  convincing  his 
majesty  that  the  contemplated  protest, 
while  it  would  not  arrest  the  proposed 
annexation,  would  engender  in  the  minds 
of  the  American  people  a feeling  of  hos- 
tility towards  France,  which  would  ope- 
rate most  injuriously  to  the  interests 


LIFE  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  R.  KING. 


29 


of  both  countries,  now  united  by  the 
closest  bonds  of  friendship;  and  his 
majesty  ultimately  declared  that  “he 
would  do  nothing  hostile  to  the  Uni- 
ted States,  or  which  could  give  to  her 
just  cause  of  offence.”  The  desired 
object  was  accomplished.  England  was 
not  in  a condition  to  act  alone,  and  all 
idea  of  a protest  was  abandoned.  Mr. 
King  remained  in  France  until  the  'au- 
tumn of  1846,  dispensing  a liberal  hos- 
pitality to  his  countrymen  and  others, 
and  receiving  from  those  connected  with 
the  government,  and  a large  circle  of 
the  most  distinguished  individuals  in 
Paris,  the  kindest  attention.  He  re- 
turned to  the  United  States  in  Novem- 
ber, 1846,  having  requested  and  obtained 
the  permission  of  the  President  to  resign 
his  office. 

In  1848,  the  Hon.  Arthur  P.  Bagby 
was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary 
to  Russia,  and  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  King 
was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Ala- 
bama to  fill  the  vacancy  thus  created; 
and  in  1849 — the  term  for  which  he 
was  appointed  having  expired — he  was 
elected  by  the  legislature  for  a term  of 
full  six  years.  In  1850,  on  the  death 
of  Gen.  Taylor,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Fillmore,  the  Vice 
President  succeeded  to  that  high  office; 
and  Mr.  King  was  chosen,  by  the  unan- 
imous vote  of  the  Senate,  President  of 
that  body,  which  places  him  in  the  se- 
cond highest  office  in  the  government. 

Mr.  King  has  ever  been  a decided 
republican  of  the  Jefferson  school.  He 
has,  during  his  whole  political  life,  op- 
posed the  exercise  of  implied  powers  on 
the  part  of  the  general  government,  un- 
less palpably  and  plainly  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  an  expressly  granted 
power — firmly  impressed  with  the  belief, 
as  he  has  often  declared,  that  the  secu- 
rity and  harmony,  if  not  the  very  exist- 
ence, of  the  federal  government  was 
involved  in  adhering  to  a strict  construc- 
tion of  the  Constitution. 

In  all  the  relations  of  life  Mr.  King 
has  maintained  a spotless  reputation. 
His  frank  and  confiding  disposition,  his 
uniform  courtesy  and  kindness,  have 
endeared  him  to  numerous  friends,  and 
commanded  for  him  the  respect  and  con- 


fidence of  all  who  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  his  acquaintance. 

Mr.  King  was  nominated  for  the  Vice 
Presidency  by  the  Democratic  Conven- 
tion, on  the  second  ballot.  Like  Mr. 
Pierce,  he  has  always  been  a consistent 
democrat,  and  though  warm  in  his  affec- 
tion to  the  South  and  her  interests,  he 
has  not  failed  to  give  the  Compromise 
measures  a cordial  support.  We  annex 
here  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination. 

Senate  Chamber,  June  22,  1852. 

Gentlemen:— I have  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
notifying  me  that  I have  ffieen  nominated 
by  the  Democratic  Convention  as  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States. 

This  distinguished  manifestation  of  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  my  democratic 
brethren  commands  my  most  grateful 
acknowledgments,  and  I cheerfully  ac- 
cept the  nomination  with  which  I have 
been-  honored. 

Throughout  a long  public  life  I am 
not  conscious  that  I have  ever  swerved 
from  those  principles  which  have  been 
cherished  and  sustained  by  the  demo- 
cratic party ; and  in  whatever  situation 
I may  be  placed,  my  countrymen  may 
rest  assured  that  I shall  adhere  to  them 
faithfully  and  zealously — perfectly  satis- 
fied that  the  prosperity  of  our  common 
country  and  the  permanency  of  our  free 
institutions  can  be  promoted  and  pre- 
served only  by  administering  the  govern- 
ment in  strict  accordance  with  them. 

The  platform  as  laid  down  by  the  Con- 
vention, meets  with  my  cordial  appro- 
bation. It  is  national  in  all  its  parts; 
and  I am  content  not  only  to  stand  upon 
it,  but  on  all  occasions  to  defend  it. 

For  the  very  flattering  terms  in  which 
you  have  been  pleased,  gentlemen,  to 
characterize  my  public  services,  I feel 
that  I am  indebted  to  the  personal  regard 
which  I am  proud  to  know  you  indivi- 
dually entertain  for  me,  and  that  you 
greatly  overrate  them.  The  only  merit 
I can  lay  claim  to  is  an  honest  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  the  various  positions 
with  which  I have  been  honored.  This  I 
claim — nothing  more. 

With  the  highest  respect  and  esteem, 
I am,  gentlemen,  your  fellow-citizen, 
William  R.  King. 

To  Messrs.  J.  S.  Barbour,  &c. 


DEMOCRATIC  PRINCIPLES. 


The  great  Democratic  Party  stands 
now,  as  it  has  always  heretofore  done, 
on  those  broad  national  grounds  which 
have  ever  commanded  the  respect,  admi- 
ration and  confidence  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple of  these  United  States.  With  it 
there  has  been  no  dodging — no  double 
dealing.  Indeed,  so  well  known  were  its 
principles  that  it  was  hardly  necessary 
for  the  late  Convention  to  define  them. 
Yet  to  leave  no  possible  doubt  in  the 
mind  of  any,  they  unanimously  adopted 
the  following 

PLATFORBI. 

RESOLUTIONS  OP  THE  DEMOCRATIC  NA- 
TIONAL CONVENTION. 

Resolved , That  the  American  Demo- 
cracy place  their  trust  in  the  intelligence, 
the  patriotism,  and  the  discriminating 
justice  of  the  American  people. 

Resolved , That  we  regard  this  as  a 
distinctive  feature  of  our  political  creed, 
which  we  are  proud  to  maintain  before 
the  world  as  the  great  moral  element  in 
a form  of  government -springing  from 
and  upheld  by  the  popular  will;  and  we 
contrast  it  with  the  creed  and  practice' 
of  federalism,  under  whatever  name  or 
form,  which  seeks  to  palsy  the  will  of 
the  constituent,  and  which  conceives  no 
imposture  too  monstrous  for  the  popular 
credulity. 

Resolved,  therefore,  That,  entertaining 
these  views,  the  Democratic  party  of 
this  Union,  through  their  delegates  as- 
sembled in  a general  convention,  coming 
together  in  a spirit  of  concord,  of  devo- 
tion to  the  doctrines  and  faith  of  a free 
representative  government,  and  appeal- 
ing to  their  fellow- citizens  for  the  recti- 
tude of  their  intentions,  renew  and  re- 
assert before  the  American  people  the 
declarations  of  principles  avowed  by  them 
when,  on  former  occasions  in  general 
convention,  they  have  presented  their 
candidates  for  the  popular  suffrages. 

1.  That  the  federal  government  is  one 
of  limited  powers,  derived  solely  from 
the'fjonstitution ; and  the  grants  of  power 
made  therein  ought  to  be  strictly  con- 


strued by  all  the  departments  and  agents 
of  the  government;  and  that  it  is  inex- 
pedient and  dangerous  to  exercise  doubt- 
ful constitutional  powers. 

2.  That  the  Constitution  does  not 
confer  upon  the  general  government  the 
power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a gene- 
ral system  of  internal  improvements. 

3.  That  the  Constitution  does  not 
confer  authority  upon  the  federal  govern- 
ment, directly  or  indirectly,  to  assume 
the  debts  of  the  several  states,  contracted 
for  local  and  internal  improvements, 
or  other  state  purposes;  nor  would  such 
assumption  be  just  or  expedient. 

4.  That  justice  and  sound  policy  for- 
bid the  federal  government  to  foster  one 
branch  of  industry  to  the  detriment  of 
any  other,  or  to  cherish  the  interests  of 
one  portion  to  the  injury  of^another  por- 
tion of  our  common  country;  that  every 
citizen,  and  every  section  of  the  country 
has  a right  to  demand  and  insist  upon 
an  equality  of  rights  and  privileges,  and 
to  complete  and  ample  protection  of  per- 
sons and  property  from  domestic  violence 
or  foreign  aggression. 

5.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  branch 
of  the  government  to  enforce  and  practise 
the  most  rigid  economy  in  conducting 
our  public  affairs,  and  that  no  more  reve- 
nue ought  to  be  raised  than  is  required 
to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  the 
government,  and  for  the  gradual  but 
certain  extinction  of  the  public  debt. 

6.  That  Congress  has  no  power  to 
charter  a national  bank ; that  we  believe 
such  an  institution  one  of  deadly  hosti- 
lity to  the  best  interests  of  the  country, 
dangerous  to  our  republican  institutions 
and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  calcu- 
lated to  place  the  business  of  the  coun- 
try within  the  control  of  a concentrated 
money  power,  and  above  the  laws  and 
the  will  of  the  people;  and  that  the 
results  of  democratic  legislation,  in  this 
and  all  other  financial  measures  upon 
which  issues  have  been  made  between 
the  two  political  parties  of -the  country, 
have  demonstrated  to  candid  and  practi- 
cal men  of  all  parties,  their  soundness, 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


31 


safety,  and  utility  in  all  business  pur- 
suits. 

7.  That  the  separation  of  the  moneys 
of  the  government  from  banking  insti- 
tutions is  indispensable  for  the  safety  of 
the  funds  of  the  government  and  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

8.  That  the  liberal  principles  embo- 
died by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  sanctioned  in  the 
Constitution,  which  makes  ours  the  land 
of  liberty,  and  the  asylum  of  the  op- 
pressed of  every  nation,  have  ever  been 
cardinal  principles  in  the  democratic 
faith,  and  every  attempt  to  abridge  the 
privilege  of  becoming  citizens  and  the 
owners  of  soil  among  us,  ought  to  be 
resisted  with  the  same  spirit  which  swept 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws  from  our 
statute  books. 

9.  That  Congress  has  no  power  under 
the  Constitution  to  interfere  with  or  con- 
trol the  domestic  institutions  of  the  seve- 
ral states,  and  that  such  states  are  the 
sole  and  proper  judges  of  everything 
appertaining  to  their  own  affairs  not 
prohibited  by  the  Constitution ; that  all 
efforts  of  the  abolitionists  or  others  made 
to  induce  Congress  to  interfere  with  ques- 
tions of  slavery,  or  to  take  incipient  steps 
in  relation  thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead 
to  the  most  alarming  and  dangerous  con- 
sequences.; and  that  all  such  efforts  have 
an  inevitable  tendency  to  diminish  the 
happiness  of  the  people,  and  endanger  the 
stability  and  permanency  of  the  Union, 
and  ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  any 
friend  of  our  political  institutions. 

Resolved , That  the  foregoing  proposi- 
tion covers,  and  was  intended  to  embrace 
the  whole  subject  of  slavery  agitation  in 
Congress;  and  therefore,  the  democratic 
party  of  the  Union,  standing  on  this 
national  platform,  will  abide  by  and  ad- 
here to  a faithful  execution  of  the  acts 
known  as  the  Compromise  measures,  set- 
tled by  the  last  Congress ; “ the  act  for 
reclaiming  fugitives  from  service  or  la- 
bor/’ included ; which  act  being  designed 
to  carry  out  an  express  provision  of  the 
Constitution,  cannot,  with  fidelity  thereto, 
be  repealed,  or  so  changed  as  to  destroy 
or  impair  its  efficiency. 

Resolved , That  the  democratic  party 
will  resist  all  attempts  at  renewing,  in 
Congress  or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the 


slavery  question  under  whatever  shape 
or  color  the  attempt  may  be  made. 

Resolved , That  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  ought  to  be  sacredly  applied 
to  the  national  objects  specified  in  the 
Constitution;  and  that  we  are  opposed 
to  any  law  for  the  distribution  of  such 
proceeds  among  the  states,  as  alike  inex- 
pedient in  policy  and  repugnant  to  the 
Constitution. 

Resolved , That  we  are  decidedly  op- 
posed to  taking  from  the  President  the 
qualified  veto  power,  by  which  he  is  ena- 
bled, under  restrictions  and  responsibili- 
ties amply  sufficient  to  guard  the  public 
interest,  to  suspend  the  passage  of  a bill 
whose  merits  cannot  secure  the  approval 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  until  the  judgment 
of  the  people  can  be  obtained  thereon, 
and  which  has  saved  the  American  people 
from  the  corrupt  and  tyrannical  domina- 
tion of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
and  from  a corrupting  system  of  general 
internal  improvements. 

Resolved , That  the  democratic  party 
will  faithfully  abide  by,  and  uphold  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798,  and  in 
the  report  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the  Virgi- 
nia legislature,  in  1799;  that  it  adopts 
those  principles  as  constituting  one  of 
the  main  foundations  of  its  political 
creed,  and  is  resolved  to  carry  them  out 
in  their  obvious  meaning  and  import. 

Resolved , That  the  war  with  Mexico, 
upon  all  the  principles  of  patriotism 
and  the  laws  of  nations,  was  a just  and 
necessary  war  on  our  part,  in  which 
every  American  citizen  should  have 
shown  himself  on  the  side  of  his  country, 
and  neither  morally,  nor  physically,  bv 
word  or  deed,  have  given  “aid  and  com- 
fort to  the  enemy.” 

Resolved , That  we  rejoice  at  the  resto- 
ration of  friendly  relations  with  our 
sister  republic  of  Mexico,  and  earnestly 
desire  for  her  all  the  blessings  and  pros- 
perity which  we  enjoy  under  republican 
institutions;  and  we  congratulate  the 
American  people  upon  r the  results  of 
that  war,  which  have  so  manifestly  justi- 
fied the  policy  and  conduct  of  the  demo- 
cratic party,  and  insured  to  the  United 
States  “indemnity  for  the  past,  and  secu- 
rity for  the  future.” 


32 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  condi- 
tion of  popular  institutions  in  the  Old 
World,  a high  and  sacred  duty  is  de- 
volved, with  increased  responsibility, 
upon  the  democratic  party  of  this  country, 
as  the  party  of  the  people , to  uphold 
and  maintain  the  rights  of  every  state, 
and  thereby  the  Union  of  the  states, 
and  to  sustain  and  advance  among  us 
constitutional  liberty  by  continuing  to 
resist  all  monopolies  and  exclusive  legis- 
lation for  the  benefit  of  the  few  at  the 
expense  of  the  many,  and  by  a vigilant 
and  constant  adherence  to  those  princi- 
ples and  compromises  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, which  are  broad  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  embrace  and  uphold  the 
Union  as  it  was,  the  Union  as  it  is,  and 
the  Union  as  it  shall  be,  in  the  full  ex- 
pansion of  the  energies  and  capacity  of 
this  great  and  progressive  people. 

These  resolutions  in  being  so  openly 
presented  and  so  cordially  adopted,  form 
a striking  contrast  to  the  course  pursued 
by  their  opponents.  The  latter,  at  least 
the  northern  portion  of  the  delegates, 
desired  to  make  no  profession  of  prin- 
ciples whatever,  and  when  the  matter 
was  forced  upon  them  by  the  southern 
delegates,  no  less  than  sixty-nine  voted 
against  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions. 
And,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  their 
candidate  has  failed  to  cordially  endorse 
them,  leaving  it  to  be  inferred  that  his 
acceptance  of  them  has  been  forced  upon 
him. 

On  the  other  hand,  both  Gen.  Pierce 
and  Mr.  King,  have,  in  their  letters  of 
acceptance,  cordially  and  enthusiastically 
adopted  as  their  own,  the  platform  laid 
down  by  the  Democratic  Convention, 
commanding  the  approbation  of  their 
conscience  and  their  judgment.  This, 
it  is  true,  was  expected  of  them — Tor 
what  has  been  more  remarkable  in  the 
life  of  Gen.  Pierce,  than  his  stern  and 
uncompromising  democracy.  Never, 
during  the  whole  course  of  his  long  pub- 
lic career  has  he  failed  to  meet  the  wishes 
of  the  democracy,  or  swerved  for  a mo- 
ment from  those  time  honored  principles 
which  we  are  so  proud  of.  We  cannot 
do  better  than  to  insert  here  his  letter 
accepting  the  nomination,  in  reply  to  the 
committee  of  the  National  Convention. 
That  of  Mr.  King  we  have  already  given. 


Concord.  (N.  H.)  June  17,  1852. 
Gentlemen  : — I have  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  your  personal  kindness  in 
presenting  to  me  this  day  your  letter 
officially  informing  me  of  my  nomination, 
by  the  Democratic  National  Convention, 
as  a candidate  for  the  presidency  of 
the  United  States. 

The  surprise  with  which  I received 
the  intelligence  of  the  nomination,  was 
not  unmingled  with  painful  solicitude, 
and  yet  it  is  proper  for  me  to  say  that  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  conferred  was 
peculiarly  gratifying.  The  delegation 
from  New  Hampshire,  with  all  the  glow 
of  state  pride  and  all  the  warmth  of 
personal  regard,  would  not  have  sub- 
mitted my  name  to  the  convention,  nor 
would  they  have  cast  a vote  for  me,  un- 
der circumstances  other  than  those  which 
occurred. 

I shall  always  cherish  with  pride  and 
gratitude  the  recollection  of  the  fact 
that  the  voice  which  first  pronounced 
for  me — and  pronounced  alone — came 
from  the  mother  of  states — a pride  and 
gratitude  rising  far  above  any  conse- 
quences that  can  betide  me  personally. 

May  I not  regard  it  as  a fact  pointing 
to  the  overthrow  of  sectional  jealousies, 
and  looking  to  the  perennial  life  and 
vigor  of  a union  cemented  by  the  blood 
of  those  who  have  passed  to,  their  re- 
ward— a union  wonderful  in  its  forma- 
tion, boundless  in  its  hopes,  amazing  in 
its  destiny!  I accept  the  nomination, 
relying  upon  an  abiding  devotion  to  the 
interests,  the  honor,  and  the  glory  of 
our  whole  country,  but,  beyond  and 
above  all,  upon  a Power  superior  to  all 
human  might — a Power  which,  from  the 
first  gun  of  the  revolution,  in  every 
crisis  through  which  we  have  passed,  in 
every  hour  of  our  acknowledged  peril, 
when  the  dark  clouds  have  shut  down 
around  us,  has  interposed,  as  if  to  baffle 
human  wisdom,  outmarch  human  fore- 
cast, and  bring  out  of  darkness  the  rain- 
bow of  promise.  Weak  myself,  faith 
and  hope  repose  there  in  security.  I 
accept  the  nomination  upon  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  convention,  not  because 
this  is  expected  of  me  as  a candidate, 
but  because  the  principles  it  embraces 
command  the  approbation  of  my  judg- 
ment; and  with  them  I believe  I can 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


33 


safely  say  there  has  been  no  word  nor 
act  of  my  life  in  conflict. 

I have  only  to  tender  my  grateful 
acknowledgments  to  you,  gentlemen,  to 
the  convention  of  which  you  were  mem- 
bers, and  to  the  people  of  our  common 
country. 

I am,  with  the  highest  respect,  your 
most  obedient  servant, 

Frank.  Pierce. 

To  Hon.  J.  S.  Barbour,  J.  Thompson, 

Alpheus  Felch,  Pierre  Soule. 

All  here  is  straightforward  and  manly. 
Nothing  more  could  be  desired. 

The  following  is  the  opinion  of  the 
Democratic  Platform,  expressed  by  the 
Hon.  M.  P.  Gentry,  Whig  member  of 
Congress  from  Tennessee,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1852. 

“But  the  honorable  member  from 
North  Carolina  thinks  thero  ought  not 
to  be  any  platform  adopted  by  the  Whig 
National  Convention.  He  is  disgusted 
with  platforms.  Well,  I think  there 
has  been  a good  deal  in  some  of  the 
platforms  which  is  well  calculated  to 
inspire  such  a feeling;  but  there  is 
something  in  the  late  platform  of  the 
democratic  party  at  Baltimore  which  is 
eminently  patriotic,  noble,  and  honorable. 

I would  feel  myself  personally  degraded 
if  I would  raise  a question  upon  that 
point.  They  have  come  up  to  the  neces- 
sities of  the  hour,  and  adopted  resolu- 
tions which  cover  the  whole  question  in 
reference  to  the  sectional  difficulties 
which  have  disturbed  the  harmony  and 
threatened  the  existence  of  the  Union. 
They  have  so  met  that  question  as  to 
nationalize  themselves. 

“ The  two  great  parties  of  the  country 
have  differed  in  opinion,  and  may  yet 
retain  and  maintain  those  differences  of 
opinion  upon  questions  of  mere  expe- 
diency ; but  such  questions,  though  im- 
portant, are  infinitely  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  consequences  in- 
volved in  this  question,  greater  in  its 
consequences  than  all  of  these  put  to- 
gether. Waiving  at  present  all  discus- 
sion in  regard  to  those  points  in  their 
platform  which  do  not  meet  my  approval, 

I give  them  my  testimony  here  to-day, 


before  the  whole  country — and  truth 
and  honor  require  every  man  to  do  it — 
that  they  have  nobly  come  up  to  the 
necessities  of  the  times,  have  adopted 
resolutions  in  regard  to  these  sectional 
questions  to  which  I have  referred,  the 
tendency  of  which,  at  least,  is  to  nation- 
alize the  Democratic  party,  and  bring  it 
to  a high  national  standard  which  will 
recognise  the  binding  obligations  of  the 
Constitution  in  all  its  parts — North  and 
South;  and  which  tends  to  give  peace, 
tranquility,  and  security  to  the  country 
and  permanence  to  the  Union.” 

The  Hon.  James  Buchanan  bears  the 
following  testimony  to  the  soundness  of 
our  principles  and  our  candidates. 

“It  has  been  our  glory  and  our 
strength  in  the  past  time,  that  we  have 
never  concealed  our  principles  from  the 
public  eye,  but  have  always  proclaimed 
them  before  the  world.  The  late  Balti- 
more Convention,  in  obedience  to  our 
will,  has  erected  a platform  of  principles, 
in  the  midst  of  the  nation,  on  which 
every  true  Democrat  can  proudly  stand. 
Does  the  man  live,  be  he  Democrat  or 
Whig,  who,  knowing  Franklin  Pierce 
and  William  R.  King,  believes  they  will 
prove  faithless  to  any  one  of  these  prin- 
ciples? The  great  democratic  party  of 
the  union  have  delivered  to  these  their 
chosen  candidates,  a chart  by  which  they 
stand  pledged,  in  the  most  solemn  man- 
ner, to  guide  the  ship  of  state;  and  my 
life  upon  the  issue,  they  will  never  de- 
viate from  the  prescribed  course.  In 
voting  for  these  candidates,  then,  every 
Democrat  will  be  voting  for  his  own 
cherished  principles  and  sustaining  the 
platform  of  his  party.” 

Truly  may  we  say  that  the  democratic 
party,  entrenched  and  united  upon  a 
platform  so  national — so  completely  na- 
tional— is  invincible.  From  Maine  to 
Texas  there  is  but  one  spirit  displayed ; 
but  one  political  faith  practised  by  the 
reconciled  and  re-united  democracy.  Dis- 
sensions in  the  South  are  healed.  Peace 
waves  her  white  wing  over  the  lately 
dissevered  democrats  of  the  North,  and 
along  the  whole  line,  the  watchword  is  re- 
echoed in  shouts;  Pierce  and  King — 
the  Constitution , it  must  and  shall  he 
preserved ! 


5 


BUCHANAN'S  OPINION  OF  PIERCE  AN©  KING, 


All  of  us  have  much  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  nomination  of  Franklin 
Pierce  and  William  R.  King.  They 
are  sound,  radical,  state-rights  demo- 
crats, who  will  employ  their  best  efforts 
to  expel  from  the  halls  of  Congress  and 
the  purlieus  of  the  treasury,  the  hosts 
of  stock-jobbers,  contractors,  and  specu- 
lators by  which  they  are  now  infested, 
and  to  restore  the  purity,  simplicity  and 
economy  of  former  times  in  the  admi- 
nistration of  the  government.  I know 
them  well,  having  served  in  the  Senate 
with  both,  for  several  years,  at  a most 
critical  and  important  period  of  our  poli- 
tical history;  and  I speak  with  know- 
ledge when  I say  they  are  the  very  men 
for  the  times.  Public  economy,  reform, 
and  a strict  construction  of  the  Consti- 
tution, according  to  the  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798  and  1799, 
ought  to  be  the  watchwords  of  the  demo- 
cratic party  throughout  the  pending  con- 
test; and  Pierce  and  King  will  prove  to 
be  the  able  and  faithful  representatives 
of  these  great  principles. 

When  General  Pierce  first  made  his 
appearance  in  the  Senate,  he  was  one  of 
the  youngest  if  not  the  very  youngest, 
of  its  members.  Modest  and  unassum- 
ing in  his  deportment,  but  firm  and 
determined  in  his  principles  and  pur- 
poses, it  was  not  long  before  he  acquired 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  brother 
senators.  From  deep  conviction,  he  was 
a state-rights  democrat,  sound,  unwaver- 
ing and  inflexible;  and,  I venture  to 
predict,  that  when  his  votes  shall  be 
scrutinized  and  tested  by  the  touch-stone 
of  democratic  principles,  they  will  present 
as  fair  a record  as  those  even  of  the 
lamented  Wright  himself.  His  innate 
modesty  and  comparative  youth  pre- 
vented him  from  addressing  the  Senate 
very  frequently;  and  yet  I well  recol- 
lect some  of  his  efforts  which  would  have 
done  no  discredit  to  the  oldest  and  ablest 
members  of  the  body,  then  in  its  most 
palmy  days.  When  he  spoke  he  was 
always  prepared,  his  voice  was  excellent, 


his  language  well  chosen  and  felicitous; 
and  he  had  an  earnestness  of  manner, 
proceeding  evidently  from  deep  convic- 
tion, which  always  commanded  the  atten- 
tion of  his  audience.  No  candid  and  ho- 
norable man  of  any  party  well  acquainted 
with  General  Pierce  will,  I am  convinced, 
deny  to  him  the  intellectual  qualifica- 
tions necessary  to  render  his  administra- 
tion of  the  government  wise,  able  and 
successful.  Besides,  unless  I am  greatly 
mistaken,  he  possesses  determination  of 
character  and  energy  of  will,  without 
which  no  individual  is  fitted  to  perform 
high  and  responsible  executive  adminis- 
trative duties,  such  as  pertain  to  the  office 
of  President  of  the  United  States.  My 
own  observation,  as  well  as  the  history 
of  the  world  has  taught  me,  that  these 
are  qualities  which  do  not  always  be- 
long to  great  senators  and  distinguished 
orators. 

The  democracy  will  not  ask  that  their 
candidate  shall  be  elected,  because  of  his 
great  military  exploits,  and  yet  his  mili- 
tary services  constitute  a beautiful  epi- 
sode in  the  history  of  his  life.  It  is  no 
small  distinction  for  General  Pierce  to 
have  merited  the  official  and  emphatic 
endorsement  of  the  commander-in-chief 
of  our  army  in  Mexico — an  army  com- 
posed of  heroes — for  gallantry  and  good 
conduct  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Of  Col.  King,  our  candidate  for  Vice 
President,  I can  say  emphatically,  that 
he  is  one  of  the  purest,  the  best  and  the 
most  sound  judging  statesmen  I have 
ever  known.  He  is  a firm,  enlightened 
and  unwavering  democrat,  and  an  amia- 
ble, honorable  and  benevolent  gentle- 
man. From  the  day  when  yet  a youth, 
in  1812,  as  a member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  he  voted  for  the  decla- 
of  war  against  Great  Britain,  and  until 
the  present  hour  his  life  presents  one 
consistent  and  beautiful  portrait.  As 
President  of  the  Senate,  he  is  without  a 
superior ; and  should  it  ever  be  his  fate, 
in  any  contingency,  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  President  of  the  United  States, 
34 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


35 


he  will  conduct  the  government  with 
wisdom,  sound  discretion  and  enlight- 
ened patriotism. 

GEN.  PIERCE  IN  MEXICO. 

Colonel  O’Hara,  one  of  the  editors  of 
the  Louisville  Times,  speaks  thus  of  the 
services  of  General  Pierce  in  Mexico, 
himself  being  a personal  witness  : 

Having  retired  from  the  Senate,  and 
resuming  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
the  difficulties  with  Mexico  struck  that 
electric  spark  of  patriotism  ever  alive  in 
his  bosom,  and  he  was  chosen  the  colonel 
of  the  New  England  regiment,  prepared 
to  do  battle  for  his  country’s  honor,  and 
to  assert  and  maintain  her  rights.  When 
appointments  were  made  by  President 
Polk  of  officers  to  fill  up  the  commands 
of  the  army,  Colonel  Pierce  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general. 
During  that  unexampled  campaign  he 
bore  a most  conspicuous  part  for  the  ex- 
hibition of  all  the  elements  that  combine 
to  make  a great  captain — patience  and 
endurance  under  toil  and  privation  in 
a new  field,  a coolness  that  met  every 
responsibility,  and  a courage  ready  to  face 
the  very  “cannon’s  mouth.”  Beloved 
by  those  who  served  under  him — for  he 
was  ever  ready  to  participate  in  the 
labors  of  their  marches  and  their  daring 
in  the  hour  of  battle — he  brought  with 
him  from  the  field  of  Mexico  laurels  that 
never  wither — the  enshrinement  of  him- 
self in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen, 
who  beheld  his  valor  and  participation 
in  the  glory  which  his  bravery  won. 

At  Contreras,  when  dashing  over  the 
pedrigal,  (a  continuous  series  of  sharp 
rocks  thrown  up  by  volcanic  action,)  for 
the  purpose  of  heading  his  brigade,  his 
horse  fell  under  him  and  crushed  the  leg 
of  his  rider  in  his  fall.  The  battle  of 
Cherubusco  followed  next  day,  and  scorn- 
ing to  hang  back  with  his  tent,  with 
crutch  in  hands,  he  mounted  his  goodly 
steed,  and  urged  his  men  “on  to  victory!” 
In  the  foremost  rank  of  battle  he  was 
found;  and  through  most  of  that  bloody 
day  he  was  the  spirit  of  the  wing  in 
which  he  was  placed.  But,  with  fatigue, 
and  the  anguish  of  a fractured  limb,  he 
became  faint,  and  was  borne  insensible 
from  the  field;  but  not  before  (could  he 


have  heard)  the  shouts  of  victory  would 
have  filled  his  ears,  and  brought  back 
the  quick  pulsations  to  his  noble  heart. 

We  speak  with  enthusiasm  of  the  gal- 
lantry of  General  Pierce,  because,  at- 
tached to  that  branch  of  service,  we  were 
an  eye-witness  of  all  that  we  represent. 
It  was  with  pride  and  exultation  that  we 
saw  him  rejecting  the  privilege  accorded 
to  the  wounded,  and  baring  “ his  bosom 
to  the  strife.”  Our  admiration  knew  no 
bounds,  for  we  felt  that  there  was  a heart 
truly  American — American  in  its  most 
comprehensive  sense — reckless  of  self, 
and  all  for  his  country. 

ECONOMY  OF  GENERAL  PIERCE. 

Gen.  Pierce,  says  the  New  York  He- 
rald, is  known,  by  his  whole  course  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  and  Senate, 
as  a rigid  economist  of  the  public  mo- 
neys, and  as  a constructionist  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  strictest  sort.  His 
past  career  is  a guarantee  that,  if  called 
to  the  administration  of  the  government, 
he  will  discountenance  all  attempts  by 
land  jobbers,  railroad  jobbers,  and  all 
other  joint  stock  speculators,  to  make 
vast  fortunes  upon  extravagant  appro- 
priations, for  their  exclusive  benefit,  of 
the  public  lands  or  the  public  moneys. 

FRANK  PIERCE  A SOBER  MAN. 

The  whigs,  forced  to  abandon  the 
charge  in  their  papers,  are  industriously 
circulating  the  story  privately,  that  Gen. 
Pierce  is  addicted  to  the  intemperate  use 
of  spirituous  liquors.  It  is  well  for 
every  democrat  to  have  at  hand  the  fol- 
lowing emphatic  testimony  of  the  editor 
of  the  Fountain,  the  temperance  organ 
in  Connecticut: 

“ Outside  of  his  politics,  we  always 
liked  that  same  Frank  Pierce.  He  is  a 
man  of  noble  impulses — always  ready 
with  kind  offices,  generous  sympathies, 
and  good  deeds.  He  is  a politician,  and 
as  such  may  entertain  some  naughty 
sentiments;  but  about  that,  politicians 
must  inquire.  As  plain  Frank  Pierce, 
we  know  him  well,  and  like  him,  too, 
and  mean  to  for  a while  yet.  He  is  a 
temperance  man,  too.  We  have  heard 
some  of  his  noble,  earnest,  and  eloquent 


36 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


appeals  for  humanity;  and  they  took 
hold  of  the  heart,  encouraged  and 
strengthened  us  in  our  toils  among  the 
Granite  Hills.,? 

TESTIMONY  OF  THE  OPPOSITION. 

When  a man’s  opponents  speak  well 
of  him,  he  is  generally  worthy  of  esteem. 
Gen.  Pierce  is  such  a man.  We  quote 
from  two,  edited  by  persons  who  have 
long  known  Gen.  Pierce,  and  always  dif- 
fered with  him  in  polities.  The  Man- 
chester American,  a New  Hampshire 
paper,  says : “ He  is,  without  doubt,  one 
of  the  ablest  men  in  the  democratic 
party.  There  are  few  men  who  in  their 
general  demeanor  and  intercourse  among 
men  exert  a stronger  personal  influence 
than  he.”  So  also  the  Ironton  (Ohio) 
Register,  the  editor  of  which  has  known 
Franklin  Pierce  from  boyhood,  speaks 
of  him  and  his  father  as  follows — evi- 
dently intending  to  say  no  more  in  favor 
of  the  son  than  he  is  compelled  to  admit 
by  his  regard  for  his  honesty,  and  even 
that  is  colored  by  political  prejudices: 
u The  father  was  a very  illiterate  man, 
an  unwavering  democrat,  and  an  unsul- 
lied patriot;  both  father  and  son  were 
flaming  Jackson  men  in  the  times  of 
Adams  and  Jackson;  and  we  believe 
that  Franklin  has  never  been  suspected 
of  being,  anything  else  but  the  fiercest 

sort  of  a radical  democrat 

u He  is  an  eloquent  speaker,  a fierce 
dCclaimer,  a man  of  consummate  tact  and 


shrewdness — a complete  wire-puller — a 
perfect  political  manager.  He  is  earnest 
in  his  endeavors — always  says  can,  ne- 
ver can’t — has  talents  of  a high  order, 
yet  he  does  not  come  up  to  the  dignity 
of  a statesman.  He  is,  however,  com- 
paratively young,  and  may  possibly,  if 
he  reaches  the  White  House, 1 come  out’ 
as  a statesman.  His  moral  character 
is  good;  at  least  we  never  heard  aught 
said  against  it  in  the  county  where 
he  was  born  and  bred,  and  probably  is 
as  honest  as  any  of  the  wire-working 
politicians.” 

TIE  TWO  CANDIDATES. 

As  to  the  matter  of  generalship,  1 
think  Pierce  has  the  advantage.  Scott 
went  into  the  army  as  a trade.  He 
learned  his  trade  well,  and  got  good  pay 
as  the  consequence.  He  has  drawn 
money  enough  from  the  treasury  to  make 
a thousand  men  like  you  and  I rich. 
On  the  other  hand,  Pierce  did  not  fight 
for  pay.  He  entered  tho  army  as  a 
common  soldier,  at  eight  dollars  a month. 
You  talk  about  the  rapid  promotion  of 
Scott;  but  Pierce  was  raised  to  a Colonel 
from  the  ranks,  and  then  made  a Briga- 
dier General  for  his  good  conduct,  all  in 
nine  months.  He  volunteered  when  his 
country  wanted  his  service,  and  resigned 
as  soon  as  he  could  be  spared.  The  one 
followed  the  business  as  a trade  for  pay, 
and  the  other  took  it  up  out  of  pure  love 
to  his  country. 


A WHIG  CAMPAIGN  SONG. 
Air— “ Scots 


Scotts  who  fought  while  others  bled, 
Scotts  whom  Seward  nobly  led, 
Welcome  to  your  gory  bed, 

Or  of  victory  sing. 

Now ’s  the  day,  and  now ’s  the  hour — 
See  the  front  of  battle  lower — 

See  approach  the  loco  power, 

Led  by  Pierce  and  King. 

Stay  we  not  for  party  broils, 

Working  men  must  bear  the  toils, 

It  is  ours  to  reap  the  spoils, 

This  must  be  our  aim. 

Strike,  then,  and  no  quarter  crave, 
Hurrah ! for  a Galphin  shave, 

If  we  can  the  country  save, 

We’ve  a Gardner  claim. 


wha  hae 

If  to  conquer  we  must  stoop, 

Do  not  let  our  spirits  droop, 

Seize  “a  hasty  plate  of  soup,” 

On ! and  never  fear. 

Up  ! and  with  united  mind,  f 
Strike  before,  and  strike  behind, 

If  not  watchful,  we  shall  find 

“Fires  in  the  rear.” 

Fillmore  men  may  curse  and  rave, 
Standing  over  Webster’s  grave, 

But  with  “Chippewa”  the  brave, 

Raise  our  banner  high. 

Forward,  then,  ye  gallant  Scotts, 

By  our  party  ties  and  knots , 

By  the  man  “who  slept,  with  Botts,” 
Let  us  do  or  die. 


THE  OPPOSITION  AND  THEIR  CANDIDATE. 


In  presenting  to  the  independent  free- 
men of  our  country  these  reasons  and 
texts  showing  the  advantages — the  secu- 
rity— the  prosperity  that  must  result 
from  a democratic  administration,  we 
are  necessarily  compelled  to  speak  of 
our  opponents  and  their  measures  in 
such  terms  as  will  best  convey  a true 
estimate  of  their  real  character.  In 
doing  this,  we  have  no  personal  animosi- 
ties to  gratify — no  selfish  ends  to  accom- 
plish. 

We  have  no  hesitation,  therefore,  in 
saying  that  the  candidate  presented  for 
the  presidency  by  the  whig  party  is 
totally  unqualified,  both  morally  and 
mentally  to  discharge  the  important 
trusts  confided  to  the  chief  magistrate 
of  this  republic,  with  honor  or  profit  to 
the  country. 

Our  reasons  for  this  opinion  may  be 
briefly  given  in  few  words. 

1.  He  has  no  fixed  principles.  This 
fact  is  evident  from  all  the  letters  he 
has  ever  written.  At  one  time,  “ fired 
with  indignation,”  he  has  inclined  to  a 
total  repeal  of  our  naturalization  laws, 
and  at  andther  entertained  “kind  and 
liberal  views  towards  our  naturalized 
citizens,” — and  again  proposing  to  admit 
foreigners  to  the  rights  of  citizenship 
upon  their  serving  one  year  in  the  army 
or  navy  in  time  of  war.  And  even  in 
his  letter  accepting  the  nomination  for 
the  presidency,  he  says  that  he  does  not 
know  whether  or  not  the  whig  principles 
as  laid  down  in  the  resolutions  of  their 
convention  are  broad  enough  to  embrace 
all  his  ideas. 

2.  He  is  incapable  of  guiding  or  di- 
recting the  vast  machinery  of  our  go- 
vernment. 

His  blundering  letters,  again,  will 
prove  this  fact,  for  they  clearly  show 
that  he  is  hasty  and  extravagant  in  his 
opinions,  entertaining  views  “in  seasons 
of  unusual  excitement,”  that  ean  never 
find  support  from  the  people.  Conse- 
quently he  must  be  always  under  the 
control  and  guidance  of  his  cabinet, 


which,  as  we  are  justified  in  believing 
from  the  means  by  which  his  nomina- 
tion was  secured,  will  be  composed  of 
those  upon  whom  the  nation  has  no 
reliance — Seward  of  New  York,  John- 
ston of  Pennsylvania,  and  others  whose 
sectional  views  and  “ higher  law  ” dog- 
mas, will  beget  strife,  discord,  and  agi- 
tation, where  peace,  harmony  and  secu- 
rity are  absolutely  essential. 

3.  He  has  evaded  the  great  question 
which  has  threatened  the  very  existence 
of  the  Union. 

The  temporizing  policy  of  Gen.  Scott 
stands  in  striking  contrast  to  the  manly 
stand  taken  by  Gen.  Pierce.  The  former, 
with  a view  to  secure  Northern  Abo- 
lition and  Free  Soil  votes,  hesitated  to 
declare  his  views  upon  the  Compromise 
questions,  while  the  latter,  both  before 
and  after  the  assembling  of  the  Conven- 
tion, though  he  was  not  a candidate,  and 
cared  nothing  for  the  nomination,  declar- 
ing it  “ utterly  repugnant  to  his  tastes 
and  wishes,”  made  them  widely  known 
both  by  word  and  action.  His  whole 
political  life  has  been  marked  by  an  abid- 
ing devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  whole 
Union, — and  he  has  always  preferred  to 
see  his  party  defeated,  rather  than  made 
a sectional  one. 

4.  Gen.  Scott’s  views  are  unknown 
upon  all  the  questions  likely  to  affect 
the  interests  of  our  country.  He  may 
be  in  favor  of  or  opposed  to  a national 
bank;  he  may  be  in  favor  of  or  opposed 
to  an  exorbitant  tariff;  he  may  be  in  favor 
of  or  opposed  to  an  assumption  of  the 
state  debts  by  the  general  government; 
he  may  be  in  favor  of  or  opposed  to  a 
distribution  of  the  public  lands  among 
the  states;  he  may  be  in  favor  of  or 
opposed  to  the  naturalization  of  foreign- 
ers. Upon  all  these  questions  we  are 
ignorant  of  what  the  policy  of  an  admi- 
nistration by  him  would  be, — and  his 
past  inconsistencies  not  only  give  us  no 
security  for  the  future,  but  teach  us  that 
he  will  do  many  ridiculous — nay  dange- 
rous— things  in  “times  of  unusual  ex- 


38 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


citement,”  or  when  u fired  with  indig- 
nation.” 

Finally — He  has  used  unworthy 
means  to  obtain  a nomination  for  the 
presidency,  and  then  denied  that  he 
sought  it. 

Let  us  convict  him  of  this.  The  whig 
convention  met  at  Baltimore  on  the  16th 
of  June,  1852.  During  the  course  of 
the  proceedings,  the  following  letter  was 
read  in  the  Convention  by  John  M.  Botts, 
of  Virginia : 

My  Dear  Sir — I have  decided  to 
write  nothing  to  the  Convention,  or  to 
any  individual  member,  before  nomina- 
tion ; but,  should  that  honor  fall  to  my 
lot,  I shall,  in  my  acceptance,  give  my 
views  on  the  Compromise  measures  in 
terms  at  least  as  strong  in  their  favor  as 
those  I read  to  you  two  days  since. 
Please  say  as  much  to  my  friends,  Gov. 
Jones,  Mr.  Botts,  Mr.  Lee,  &c. 

In  haste,  yours  truly, 

Winfield  Scott. 

To  Hon.  S.  Archer. 

And  yet  Archer,  Jones,  Botts,  Lee, 
&c.,  particularly  Mr.  <&c.,  were  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Convention.  Compare  this 
with  his  letter  of  acceptance.  We  give 
it  entire,  for  it  is  rich. 

Washington,  June  24, 1852. 
To  Hon.  J.  G.  Chapman,  President  of 
the  Whig  National  Convention. 

Sir  : — I have  had  the  honor  to  receive 
from  your  hands  the  official  notice  of 
my  u unanimous  nomination  as  the  whig 
candidate  for  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States,”  together  with  “a 
copy  of  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 
Convention  expressing  their  opinions 
upon  some  of  the  most  prominent  ques- 
tions of  national  policy.” 

This  great  distinction,  conferred  by  a 
numerous,  intelligent,  and  patriotic  body, 
representing  millions  of  my  country- 
men, sinks  deep  into  my  heart,  and 
remembering  the  very  eminent  names 
which  were  before  the  Convention  in 
amicable  competition  with  my  own,  I am 
made  to  feel  oppressively  the  weight  of 
responsibility  belonging  to  my  new  posi- 
tion. 

Not  having  written  a word  to  'procure 
this  distinction , I lost  not  a moment, 


after  it  had  been  conferred,  in  addressing 
a letter  to  one  of  your  members  to  sig- 
nify what  would  be,  at  the  proper  time, 
the  substance  of  my  reply  to  the  Con- 
vention, and  I now  have  the  honor  to 
repeat,  in  a more  formal  manner,  as  the 
occasion  justly  demands,  that  I accept 
the  nomination  with  the  resolutions  an- 
nexed. 

The  political  principles  and  measures, 
laid  down  in  those  resolutions  are  so 
broad,  that  but  little  is  left  for  me  to  add. 
I therefore,  barely  suggest,  in  this  place, 
that  should  I,  by  the  partiality  of  my 
countrymen,  be  elevated  to  the  chief 
magistracy  of  the  Union,  I shall  be  ready, 
in  my  connection  with  Congress,  to  re- 
commend or  to  approve  of  measures  in 
regard  to  the  management  of  the  public 
domain,  so  as  to  secure  an  early  settle- 
ment of  the  same  favorable  to  actual 
settlers,  but  consistent,  nevertheless, 
with  a due  regard  to  the  equal  rights  of 
the  whole  American  people  in  that  vast 
national  inheritance;  and  also  to  recom- 
mend or  approve  a single  alteration  in 
our  naturalization  laws,  suggested  by  my 
military  experience,  viz : giving  to  all  fo- 
reigners the  right  of  citizenship  who 
shall  faithfully  serve,  in  time  of  war, 
one  year  on  board  of  our  public  ships, 
or  in  our  land  forces,  regular  or  volun- 
teer, on  their  receiving  an  honorable  dis- 
charge from  the  service. 

In  regard  to  the  general  policy  of 
the  administration,  if  elected,  I should 
of  course,  look  among  those  who  may 
approve  that  policy  for  the  agents  to 
carry  it  into  execution,  and  I should 
seek  to  cultivate  harmony  and  fraternal 
sentiments  throughout  the  whig  party, 
without  attempting  to  reduce  its  mem- 
bers, by  proscription  to  exact  confor- 
mity to  my  own  views.  But  I should, 
at  the  same  time,  be  rigorous  in  regard 
to  qualifications  for  office — retaining  and 
appointing  no  one,  either  deficient  in 
capacity  or  integrity,  or  in  devotion  to 
liberty,  to  the  Constitution,  and  the 
Union. 

Convinced  that  harmony  and  good 
will  between  the  different  quarters  of 
our  broad  country  is  essential  to  the 
present  and  future  interests  of  the  re- 
public, and  with  a devotion  to  those 
interests  that  can  know  no  South  and 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


39 


no  North,  I should  neither  countenance 
nor  tolerate  any  sedition,  disorder,  fac- 
tion, or  resistance  to  the  law  or  the  Union  , 
on  any  pretext,  in  any  part  of  the  land; 
and  I should  carry  into  the  civil  admi- 
nistration this  one  principle  of  military 
conduct — obedience  to  the  legislative  and 
judicial  departments  of  government, 
each  in  its  constitutional  sphere,  saving 
only,  in  respect  to  the  legislature,  the 
possible  resort  to  the  veto  power,  always 
to  be  most  cautiously  exercised  and  un- 
der the  strictest  restraints  and  neces- 
sities. 

Finally,  for  my  adherence  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  whig  party,  as  expressed 
in  the  resolutions  of  the  Convention 
and  herein  suggested,  with  a sincere  and 
earnest  purpose  to  advance  the  greatness 
and  happiness  of  the  republic,  and  thus 
to  cherish  and  encourage  the  cause  of 
constitutional  liberty  throughout  the 
world — avoiding  every  act  and  thought 
that  might  involve  our  country  in  an 
unjust  or  an  unnecessary  war,  or  impair 
the  faith  of  treaties,  and  discountenancing 
all  political  agitation  injurious  to  the 
interests  of  society  and  dangerous  to 
the  Union — lean  offer  no  other  pledge  or 
guaranty  than  the  known  incidents  of  a 
long  public  life , now  undergoing  the 
severest  examination. 

Feeling  myself  highly  fortunate  in 
my  associate  on  the  ticket,  and  with  a 
lively  sense  of  my  obligations  to  the 
Convention,  and  to  your  personal  cour- 
tesies, I have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir, 
with  great  esteem, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

Winfield  Scott. 

Is  it  not  too  much  to  ask  of  us  to  be- 
lieve in  his  “ not  having  written  a word 
to  procure  this  distinction/’  after  writing 
to  Mr.  Archer,  and  begging  him  to 
electioneer  for  him  among  the  Southern 
delegates  whose  support  was  doubtful  ? 

We  might  add  here  many  more  pow- 
erful reasons  why  General  Scott  should 
not  be  President,  but  we  desire  that  he 
shall  be  heard  himself — being  quite  sure 
that  if  we  give  him  rope  enough  he  will 
hang  himself — -or  at  least  that  if  we  put 
a pen  in  his  hand,  he  will  write  his  own 
doom. 

Before  giving  his  own  letters,  how- 


ever, let  us  say  a word  about  his  military 
glory — for  it  is  to  that  alone  his  friends 
appeal — thinking  doubtless,  as  do  the 
Chinese,  that  by  making  a great  “fuss” 
with  this  terrible  gong , and  a plentiful 
show  of  “ feathers,”  they  can  frighten 
off  all  opposition.  We  had  been  foolish 
enough  to  suppose  that  the  success  that 
has  attended  our  arms  in  all  the  wars  in 
which  we  have  been  engaged  was  owing 
mainly  to  the  good  conduct,  the  bravery, 
the  patriotism,  displayed  by  the  men 
who  composed  our  armies,  and  that  they 
were  not  merely  sent  to  look  on  while 
the  generals  did  all  the  fighting.  What 
a delusion ! The  heroes  who  poured  out 
their  blood  in  defence  of  our  national 
honor,  who  toiled  over  the  arid  deserts 
of  Mexico,  and  left  their  pones  to  bleach 
under  a tropical  sun  deserve  no  place  in 
the  veneration  of  their  countrymen.  To 
Winfield  Scott,  alone,  belongs  all  the 
glory.  He  could  have  accomplished  all 
that  they  did,  with  an  army  of — “fuss 
and  feathers.”  What  else  than  this  could 
John  M.  Clayton  mean,  when  he  used 
the  following  language  : 

“ Let  me  advert  to  one  fact  for  which 
I have  authority,  and  which  I know  to 
be  true.  At  the  very  -moment  when 
peace  was  about  to  be  made  between 
this  country  and  Mexico,  when  Winfield 
Scott  could,  with  honor,  have  accepted 
a place  in  the  Mexican  army,  he  was 
offered  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  in  cash,  if  he  would 
resign  the  American  army  and  take 
command  of  the  Mexicans,  with  a pro- 
mise that  a ration  far  superior  to  that 
of  the  American  army,  should  be  given 
to  those  who  would  join  his  standard, 
and  enter  the  service  of  Mexico.  And 
further,  he  was  offered  the  Presidency 
of  Mexico  for  five  years,  and  was  de- 
sired to  keep  it  during  that  time  in  or- 
der to  restore  peace.  His  civil  adminis- 
tration had  even  won  the  admiration  of 
his  enemies,  and  he  was  looked  upon  as 
a saviour,  and  they  offered  him  this  large 
sum  as  an  inducement  to  take  the  office. 
Do  you  not  suppose  he  was  stung  with 
resentment  after  he  had  done  all  for  his 
country — after  he  had  periled  his  life  in 
every  field,  and  conquered  an  empire  for 
her  advantage  and  glory,  at  finding  him- 
self dismissed  from  office.  At  that  criti- 


40 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


cal  period  a tempter  advanced,  and  said, 
‘Take  up  the  command  of  the  army  of 
Mexico,  and  the  Presidency  of  Mexico 
for  five  years/  What  was  that  but  the 
diadem  of  Mexico,  and  the  office  of 
emperor,  if  he  had  chosen  to  be  such? 

“If  he  had  taken  it,  suppose  we  had 
sent  an  army  to  chastise  the  Mexicans 
when  they  were  commanded  by  Winfield 
Scott ; don’t  you  think  we  should  have 
come  back  with  a considerable  number 
of  black  eyes  and  bloody  noses?” 

Ah ! fortunate  was  it  for  you,  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  you,  noble  Worth,  and  your 
chivalrous  compatriots,  that  Winfield 
Scott  did  not  command  the  enemy  you 
so  gallantly  vanquished.  Else,  your 
glory — holy  now  in  the  eyes  of  your 
countrymen — would  have  been  dimmed 
by  “ black  eyes  and  bloody  noses.”  And 
this  language  came  from  one  to  whom 
you  confided  the  chief  place  in  your 
cabinet,  when  a nation’s  gratitude  called 
you  to  the  highest  place  in  her  gift. 
Oh ! how  must  your  generous  spirit  have 
scorned  such  ungrateful  ingratitude,  such 
forgetfulness  of  your  fame,  when  the 
same  man  added: 

“ I cannot  be  made  insensible  to  the 
merits  of  Winfield  Scott.  All  whose 
opinion  is  worth  a straw  consider  that  a 
better  man  never  lived,  and  that  he  is 
the  great  General  of  the  age.” 

Palo  Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Mata- 
moras,  Camargo,  Monterey,  Buena  Yista, 
all — -all  are  forgotten. 

TWO  OF  SCOTTY  FACES. 

We  give  the  following  letters  from 
General  Scott  on  the  naturalization  laws, 
to  show  with  what  ease  he  can  blow  hot 
and  cold. 

Blow  Hot  or  Native  Face. 

Washington,  Nov.  10, 1844. 

Dear  Sir  : — I have  the  honor  to  ac- 
knowledge your  letter  of  the  8th  inst., 
written  as  you  are  pleased  to  add,  in  be- 
half of  several  hundred  Native  Ameri- 
can Republicans  of  Philadelphia. 

Not  confidentially,  but  not  for  pub- 
lication, I have  already  replied  to  a let- 
ter from  David  M.  Stone,  Esq.,  of  your 
city,  on  the  same  subject.  I will  write 
to  you  in  like  manner  and  in  haste. 


This  is  the  month  when  the  pressure  of 
official  business  is  heaviest  with  me — 
leaving  scarcely  time  for  sleep  or  exer- 
cise. I must  not,  however,  wholly 
neglect  your  communication. 

Should  any  considerable  number  of 
my  fellow  countrymen  assign  me,  or 
desire  to  give  me  a prominent  position 
before  the  public,  I shall  take  time  to 
methodize  my  views  on  the  great  ques- 
tions you  have  proposed.  Those  views 
have  their  origin  in  the  stormy  elections 
of  the  Spring  of  1835,  and  were  con- 
firmed in  the  week  that  the  Harrison 
electors  were  chosen  in  New  York.  On 
both  occasions  I was  in  that  city,  and 
heard  in  the  streets,  “ Down  with  the 
natives.”  It  was  heard  in  almost  every 
group  of  foreigners , as  the  signal  for 
rallying  and  outrage . 

Fired  with  indignation , two  friends 
sat  down  with  me  in  my  parlor  at  the 
Astor  House  (November,  1840)  to  draw 
up  an  address,  designed  to  rally  an 
American  party.  The  day  after  the 
election,  I set  out  for  the  South,  and 
have  never  known  precisely  why  our 
appeal  was  not  published.  Probably  the 
election  of  Gen.  Harrison  rendered  its 
publication  at  that  time  unnecessary  in 
the  opinion  of  my  two  friends. 

I now  hesitate  between  extending  the 
period  of  residence  before  naturalization, 
and  a total  repeal  of  all  acts  of  Congress 
on  the  subject — my  mind  inclines  to  the 
latter. 

Concurring  fully  in  the  principles  of 
the  Philadelphia  movement,  I should 
prefer  assuming  the  name  of  American 
Republicans,  as  in  New  York,  or  Dem- 
ocratic Americans , as  I would  respect- 
fully suggest.  Brought  up  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Revolution — of  Jefferson, 
Madison,  &c. — under  whom,  in  youth, 
I commenced  life,  I have  always  been 
called,  I have  ever  professed  myself  a 
Republican,  or  Whig,  which  with  me 
was  the  same  thing.  Democratic  Amer- 
icans would  include  all  good  native  citi- 
zens, devoted  to  our  country  and  institu- 
tions; would  not  drive  from  us  natural- 
ized citizens,  who,  by  long  residence, 
have  become  identified  with  us  in  feeling 
and  interest. 

I am  happy  to  see  by  the  Philadel- 
phia National  American , that  religion 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


41 


is  to  be  excluded  as  a party  element. 
Staunch  Protestant  as  I am,  both  by 
birth  and  conviction,  I shall  never  con- 
sent to  a party  or  State  religion.  Reli- 
gion is  too  sacred  to  be  mingled  up  with 
either.  It  should  always  be  kept  be- 
tween each  individual  and  his  God,  ex- 
cept in  the  way  of  reason  and  gentle 
persuasion ; as  in  families,  churches  and 
other  occasions  of  voluntary  attendance 
(after  years  of  discretion)  or  reciprocal 
consent. 

Wishing  success  to  the  great  work 
which  you  and  other  patriots  have  set  on 
foot,  I remain,  with  high  respect,  your 
fellow  citizen, 

Winfield  Scott. 

To  George  Washington  Reed,  Esq.,  and 

others,  Philadelphia. 

Blow  Cold,  or  Irish  Face. 

Washington,  May  29th,  1848. 

Dear  Sir  : — In  reply  to  your  kind 
letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  I take  pleasure 
in  saying  that,  grateful  for  the  too  par- 
tial estimate  you  place  on  my  public 
services,  you  do  me  no  more  than  justice 
m assuming  that  I entertain  “ kind  and 
liberal  views  towards  our  naturalized 
citizens.”  Certainly  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  me  to  recommend  or  support 
any  measure  intended  to  exclude  them 
from  a just  and  full  participation  in  all 
civil  and  political  rights  now  secured  to 
them  by  our  republican  laws  and  insti- 
tutions. 

It  is  true,  that  in  a season  of  unusual 
excitement,  some  years  ago,  when  both 
parties  complained  of  fraudulent  prac- 
tices in  the  naturalization  of  foreigners, 
and  when  there  seemed  to  be  danger 
that  native  and  adopted  citizens  would 
be  permanently  arrayed  against  each 
other  in  hostile  factions,  I was  inclined 
to  concur  in  the  opinion  then  avowed  by 
many  leading  statesmen,  that  some  modi- 
fication of  the  naturalization  laws  might 
be  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  abuses, 
allay  strife,  and  restore  harmony  between 
the  different  classes  of  our  people.  But 
later  experience  and  reflection  have  en- 
tirely removed  this  impression,  and  dis- 
sipated my  apprehensions. 

In  my  recent  campaign  in  Mexico,  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  men  under 
my  command  were  your  countrymen, 


(Irish,)  Germans,  &c.,  &c.  I witnessed 
with  admiration  their  zeal,  fidelity,  and 
valor  in  maintaining  our  flag  in  the  face 
of  every  danger.  Yieing  with  each  other 
and  our  native-born  soldiers  in  the  same 
ranks  in  patriotism,  constancy,  and  heroic 
daring,  I ‘was  happy  to  call  them  bro- 
thers in  the  field,  as  I shall  always  be  to 
salute  them  as  countrymen  at  home. 

I remain,  dear  sir,  with  great  esteem, 
yours  truly, 

Winfield  Scott. 
Wm.  E.  Robinson,  Esq. 

The  Man  who  Blew  Hot  and  Cold. 

Gen.  Taylor  introduced  the  fashion  of 
illustrating  politics  from  the  fables  of 
JEsop ; and  we  cannot  do  better  than  to 
point  the  moral  of  General  Scott’s  two 
letters  on  Nativeism,  by  the  quotation 
of  a celebrated  story  of  the  same  author : 

Once  upon  a time,  a satyr  from  the 
woods  approached  the  ruins  of  a temple 
in  the  eastern  city  of  Philadelphia, 
which  had,  some  time  before,  been  burned 
by  the  barbarians,  and  beheld  a soldier, 
blowing  the  smouldering  embers  for  the 
purpose  of  kindling  a fire. 

“ Why  dost  thou  blow  the  coals  with 
thy  breath  ?”  asked  the  curious  satyr. 

“ In  order  to  create  a great  heat,”  said 
the  soldier,  “so  that  I may  cook  me  a 
plate  of  soup.” 

The  soup  being  cooked,  the  soldier,  in 
haste  to  take  a plate,  spilled  the  boiling 
liquid  and  burned  his  fingers,  whereupon, 
before  again  proceeding  to  eat,  he  com- 
menced violently  blowing  the  dish  of 
soup. 

“ Why  dost  thou  blow  thy  porridge  ?” 
again  asked  the  curious  satyr. 

“In  order  to  cool  it,”  replied  the 
soldier. 

“ What,  dost  thou  blow  hot,  and  cold 
with  the  same  breath  ?”  cried  the  satyr, 
fired  with  indignation.  “ I will  punish 
thee ;”  and  thereupon  he  seized  the  hat 
and  feathers  of  the  soldier  and  tore  them 
off,  and  holding  him  over  the  flames,  made 
him  cruelly  suffer  from  the  fire  in  the 
rear,  after  which,  seizing  his  sword,  he 
pierced  him  through  and  through. 

Moral. — Never  blow  hot  and  cold 
with  the  same  breath  in  the  presence  of 
gentlemen  from  the  rural  districts. 


42 


DEMOCRATIC  text  book. 


THE  HASTY  GENERAL. 

Truly  and  emphatically  may  General 
Scott  be  denominated  the  hasty  general, 
for  in  all  his  movements,  whether  civil 
or  military,  political  or, otherwise,  hasti- 
ness, in  the  most  enlarged  sense  of  the 
term,  predominates.  In  his  early  en- 
gagements on  the  frontier,  he  was  hasty 
and  inconsiderate,  no  matter  how  bravely 
he  acted.  In  the  battle  of  Chippewa, 
he  brought  on  the  action  in  a hasty 
manner  without  waiting  the  arrival  of 
the  commander-in-chief ; the  consequence 
of  which  was,  that  nearly  his  whole  com- 
mand was  annihilated,  and  it  required 
all  the  tact,  skill  and  bravery  of  General 
Brown  and  his  gallant  officers  and  soldiers 
to  save  the  army  from  defeat.  He  was 
hasty  in  his  quarrel  with  Gen.  Jackson ; 
he  was  hasty  in  his  quarrel  with  Gen. 
Macomb;  he  was  hasty  in  his  quarrel 
with  Gen.  Gaines;  he  was  hasty  in  his 
quarrel  with  Secretary  Marcy;  he  was 
hasty  in  his  quarrel  with  Mr.  Trist,  at 
one  time  declaring  his  correspondence  to 
be  a “farrago  of  insolence,  conceit  and 
arrogance,”  and  a month  afterwards  as- 
suring the  President  that  Mr.  Trist  was 
“ able,  discreet,  courteous  and  amiable ;” 
he  was  hasty  in  writing  his  Native  Ame- 
rican letter;  hasty  in  hanging  twenty 
Irishmen ; hasty  in  saying  that  the  Irish 
never  turned  their  backs  upon  friends  or 
enemies ; hasty  in  negociating  with  Santa 
Anna  before  the  walls  of  Mexico,  against 
'the  advice  of  all  his  officers;  the  “Botts 
letter”  closed  “in  haste,  yours  truly;” 
in  short,  he  has  been  hasty  in  almost 
every  act  of  his  life. 

$10,000  BRIBE  TO  SANTA  ANNA. 

Would  it  be  believed  that  Gen.  Scott 
absolutely  gave  a bribe  to  Gen.  Santa 
Anna,  whilst  the  army  was  at  Puebla, 
to  induce  the  Mexican  general  to  agree 
to  a peace?  This,  we  suppose,  will  be 
denied  by  Gen.  Scott’s  whig  friends,  but 
it  is  verified  by  the  history  of  the  war. 
In  Major  Ripley’s  history  of  the  war 
with  Mexico,  vol.  2,  page  149,  it  is  said 
that  Santa  Anna  sent  a messenger  to 
Gen.  Scott,  proposing  to  enter  into  nego- 
tiations for  peace,  but  informing  him,  at 
the  same  time,  that  as  nothing  could  be 


done  without  the  use  of  money , if  one 
million  of  dollars  were  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  Santa  Anna,  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  treaty,  and  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars paid  immediately,  he  (Santa  Anna) 
would  appoint  commissioners  to  nego- 
tiate. This  negotiation  was  conducted, 
in  the  first  place,  entirely  by  Gen.  Scott 
and  the  renegade,  N.  P.  Trist.  Gen. 
Pillow  was  subsequently  made  a party 
in  the  conference,  and  he  objected  to  the 
bribe.  The  historian,  however,  says,  on 
page  153,  vol.  2,  “ the  policy  of  agree- 
ing to  the  demands  of  Santa  Anna  was 
strongly  urged  by  Gen.  Scott,”  he  argu- 
ing, uthat  the  bribery  was  not  wrong , 
inasmuch  as  Gen.  Santa  Anna  had  placed 
himself  in  the  market.”  On  page  155, 
the  historian  says  the  affair  was  arranged, 
“ and  the  ten  thousand  dollars  stipulated 
for  immediately  were  paid  over  from  the 
secret  service  money , which  Gen.  Scott 
had  at  his  disposal .” 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Gen.  Scott 
actually  gave  a bribe  of  $10,000  to  Santa 
Anna,  to  induce  him  to  enter  into  nego- 
tiations for  a peace,  and  agreed  to  pay 
him  a million  in  case  of  success.  It 
appears  however,  in  the  sequel,  that 
Santa  Anna  had  no  idea  of  making  a 
peace,  and  only  wanted  time  to  strength- 
en his  position,  and  ten  thousand  dollars 
for  his  own  private  purse.  We  venture 
to  say  that  this  is  the  only  case  on  re- 
cord where  the  commander  of  a victo- 
rious army  paid  money  in  advance  to  a 
defeated  general  to  induce  him  to  make 
peace. 

EFFECT  OF  SCOTT'S  NOMINATION. 

The  New  York  Bay  Book  takes  down 
the  Webster  flag,  and  says : 

Scott  is  nominated. — The  story 
is  told — Winfield  Scott  is  the  whig  can- 
didate for  President,  and  the  election  of 
Franklin  Pierce  is  secured ! “ I will 
not  vote  for  Scott,”  is  the  declaration  of 
almost  half  the  whigs  we  meet. 

“ Well,  southern  delegates  have  done 
this,  and  if  they  are  satisfied,  we  are. 
We  can  only  say  to  them — Gentlemen , 
catch  your  own  niggers  hereafter,  and 
never  say  another  word  about  the  Com- 
promise Measures. 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


43 


SCOTT’S  PORTRAIT  BY  A WHIG. 

The  following  “ live  sketch  ” of  Gen- 
eral Scott  as  a politician,  is  from  the 
Knoxville  Whig.  If  you  believe  what 
they  say  about  him,  in  his  own  party, 
democrats  will  not  need  to  speak  upon 
the  subject.  Read  it : 

“ He  has  been  almost  forty  years  pro- 
minently before  the  country,  and  in  that 
time  has  done  and  said  many  silly  things, 
which,  in  themselves,  are  harmless,  slum- 
ber in  silence,  and  are  covered  beneath 
the  rubbish  of  time.  But  let  him  only 
come  before  the  public  for  political  fa- 
vors— where  he  has  no  sort  of  business — 
all  his  foolish  deeds  and  speeches  will 
be  roused  from  their  slumber — disrobed 
of  their  winding  sheet — and  will  be  used 
with  a terrible  effect,  especially  at  the 
South.  None  but  the  most  discreet  men 
that  ever  lived,  standing  in  the  focus  of 
the  public  gaze  for  forty  years,  and  hav- 
ing to  move  in  the  midst  of  all  manner 
of  factions  and  interests,  could  avoid 
saying  some  foolish  things.  How  much 
more  then,  would  the  life  of  Gen.  Scott’s 
weakness,  vanity  and  pride,  be  spotted 
all  over  with  acts  that  ought  to  be  ob- 
literated forever,  and  that  ought  never 
to  have  occurred.  His  improper  use  of 
public  moneys  in  his  early  days  in  the 
army — his  quarrel  with  General  Jack- 
son,  in  which  he  came  off  second  best — 
his  bad  treatment  of  Gov.  Clinton — his 
unsuccessful  quarrel  and  controversy 
with  Gen.  Gaines — his  contest  with 
Gov.  Marcy,  in  which  he  got  the  worst 
of  the  fight — his  more  recent  contest 
with  Gen.  Pillow,  in  which  to  say  the 
least  of  it  he  made  nothing — and,  finally, 
his  base  treatment  of  Mr.  Clay  in  1840 ; 
all  these,  and  more,  would  come  up  in 
judgment  against  him,  if  once  brought 
before  the  country  as  a candidate  for  the 
presidency.  His  notorious  vanity,  which 
is  more  than  equal  to  his  military  ability, 
has  been  the  faithful  mother  of  his  in- 
discreet acts,  has  given  birth  to  a pro- 
geny of  hateful  and  silly  speeches  and 
deeds,  as  numerous  as  the  school  of  little 
fishes  that  inhabit  the  waters  of  Egypt.” 

WHIG  OPINION  OF  SCOTT. 

“Send  a delegate  to  the  Convention, 
if  you  can,  for  Clay;  if  not  for  Clay, 


for  Corwin ; if  not  for  Corwin,  for  Sew- 
ard; if  not  for  Seward,  for  Taylor.  But, 
last  of  all , for  Scott.  Scott  is  a vain, 
conceited  coxcomb  of  a man.  His 
brains — all  that  he  has — are  in  his  epau- 
lettes; and  if  he  should  be  elected  Pre- 
sident, he  would  tear  the  Whig  party 
into  tatters  in  less  than  six  months .” 

That  is  what  Greeley  said  of  Scott 
some  four  years  since — yet  for  the  past 
year  he  has  been  an  almost  insane  Scott 
man.  11  Last  of  all” — it  was  then; — 

now,  first  of  all! 

The  Albany  Evening  Journal,  March 
20  1848,  thus  spoke : — 

“ In  the  character  of  Gen.  Scott  there 
is  much,  very  much,  to  commend  and 
admire.  But  the  mischief  is,  there  is 
weakness  in  all  he  says  or  does  about 
the  presidency.  Immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  campaign  of  1840,  he  wrote 
a gratuitous  letter,  making  himself  a 
candidate,  in  which  all  sorts  of  unwise 
things  were  said  to  1 return  and  plague  ’ 
his  friends  if  he  should  be  a candidate. 
And  since  that  time,  with  a fatality  that 
seizes  upon  men,  who  get  bewildered  in 
gazing  upon  the  1 White  House/  he  has 
been  suffering  his  pen  to  dim  the  glories 
achieved  by  his  sword.” 

Has  there  been  any  change  in  the 
abilities  of  Gen.  Scott  since  these  his 
quandom  enemies  thus  reviled  him? — 
Not  at  all — he  has  only  advanced  four 
years  towards  a very  green  old  age.  But 
the  secret  is,  that  there  is  a “cat  under 
the  meal”  now,  that  did  not  exist  in 
1848.  That  cat  is  Abolition. 

GEN’L  SCOTT,  GEN’L  JACKSON, 
AND  GOY.  CLINTON. 

In  April,  1817,  Gen.  Jackson,  the 
commander  of  the  southern  division  of 
the  United  States  Army,  issued  an  order 
concerning  that  division.  This  order 
was  spoken  of  by  Gen.  Scott  in  terms 
highly  insulting  to  a brother  officer, 
with  whom  he  had  been  on  terms  of  in- 
timacy. Of  the  language  of  General 
Scott,  Gen.  Jackson  was  informed  by  an 
anonymous  letter  from  New  York,  and 
he  made  a respectful  call  upon  Gen. 
Scott,  for  an  explanation.  The  reply 
of  Gen.  Scott,  as  appears  from  the  an- 
nexed letter,  was  insulting  and  oppro- 


44 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


brious  This  letter  we  have  never  seen 
in  print,  but  to  it  Gen.  Jackson  replied 
as  follows : 

Gen.  Jackson  to  Gen.  Scott. 

Head  Quarters , Division  of  the  South , 
Nashville,  Dec.  3,  1817. 

Sir  I have  been  absent  from  this 
place  a considerable  time,  rendering  the 
last  friendly  office  I could,  to  a particu- 
lar friend,  whose  eyes  I closed  on  the 
20th  ult.  Owing  to  this,  your  letter  of 
the  4th  October  was  not  received  until 
the  1st  instant. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  anonymous 
communication  made  me  from  New  York, 
I hastened  to  lay  it  before  you:  that 
course  was  suggested  to  me  by  the  re- 
spect I felt  for  you  as  a man  and  a sol- 
dier, and  that  you  might  have  it  in  your 
power  to  answer  how  far  you  have  been 
guilty  of  so  base  and  inexcusable  con- 
duct. Independent  of  the  services  you 
had  rendered  your  country,  the  circum- 
stances of  your  wearing  the  badge  and 
insignia  of  a soldier,  led  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  I was  addressing  a gentleman. 
With  those  feelings  you  were  written  to, 
and  had  an  idea  been  for  a moment  en- 
tertained that  you  could  have  descended 
from  the  high  and  dignified  character  of 
a major  general  of  the  United  States, 
and  used  a language  so  opprobrious  and 
insolent  as  you  have  done,  rest  assured 
I should  have  viewed  you  as  rather  too 
contemptible  to  have  had  any  converse 
with  you  on  the  subject.  If  you  have 
lived  in  the  world  thus  long  in  the  en- 
tire ignorance  of  the  obligations  and  du- 
ties which  honor  impose,  you  are  indeed 
past  the  time  of  learning;  and  surely  he 
must  be  ignorant  of  them,  who  seems 
so  little  to  understand  their  influence. 

Pray,  sir,  does  your  recollection  serve, 
in  what  school  of  philosophy  you  were 
taught;  that  to  a letter  inquiring  into 
the  nature  of  a supposed  injury,  and 
clothed  in  language  decorous  and  unex- 
ceptionable, an  answer  should  be  given, 
couched  in  pompous  insolence  and  bully- 
ing expression  ? I had  hoped  that  what 
was  charged  upon  you  by  my  anonymous 
correspondent  was  unfounded;  I had 
hoped  so  from  the  belief  that  General 
Scott  was  a soldier  and  a gentleman ; 


hut  when  I see  those  statements  douhly 
confirmed  hy  his  own  words , it  becomes 
a matter  of  inquiry  how  far  a man  of 
honorable  feeling  can  reconcile  them  to 
himself,  or  longer  set  up  a claim  to 
that  character.  Are  you  ignorant,  sir, 
that  had  my  order,  at  which  your  re- 
fined judgment  is  so  extremely  touched, 
been  made  the  subject  of  inquiry,  you 
might  from  your  standing,  not  your 
character,  have  been  constituted  one  of 
my  judges  ? How  very  improper,  then, 
was  it?  thus  situated,  and  without  a know- 
ledge of  any  of  the  attendant  circum- 
stances, for  you  to  have  prejudged  the 
whole  matter.  This,  at  different  times, 
and  in  the  circle  of  your  friends,  you 
could  do ; and  yet  had  I been  arraigned, 
and  you  been  detailed  as  one  of  my  judges, 
with  the  designs  of  an  assassin  lurking 
under  a fair  exterior , you  would  have 
approached  the  holy  sanctuary  of  justice ! 
Is  conduct  like  this  congenial  with  that 
high  sense  of  dignity  which  should  be 
seated  in  a soldier’s  bosopa?  Is  it  due 
from  a brother  officer  to  assail  in  the  dark, 
the  reputation  of  another,  and  stab  him 
in  a moment  when  he  cannot  expect  it? 
I might  insult  an  honorable  man  with 
questions  such  as  these,  but  shall  not 
expect  that  they  will  harrow  up  one  who 
must  be  dead  to  all  those  feelings  which 
are  characteristics  of  a gentleman. 

In  terms  as  polite  as  I was  capable  of 
noting,  I asked  you  if  my  informant  had 
stated  truly,  if  you  were  the  author  of 
the  publication  and  remarks  charged 
against  you,  and  to  what  extent ; a refe- 
rence to  your  letter,  without  any  com- 
ment of  mine,  will  inform  you  how  far  you 
have  pursued  a similar  course;  how  little 
of  the  gentleman,  and  how  much  of  the 
hectoring  bully  you  have  manifested. 
If  nothing  else  would,  the  epaulettes 
which  grace  your  shoulders,  should  have 
dictated  a different  course,  and  have 
admonished  you  that,  however  small 
may  have  been  your  respect  for  another, 
respect  for  yourself  should  have  taught 
you  the  necessity  of  replying,  at  least 
mildly,  to  the  inquiries  I suggested;  and 
more  especially  should  you  have  done 
this,  when  your  own  constructions  must 
have  fixed  you  as  guilty  of  the  abomina- 
ble crime  of  detraction — of  slandering, 
and  behind  his  back,  a brother  officer. 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


45 


But  not  content  with  answering  to  what 
was  proposed,  your  overweening  vanity 
has  led  you  to  make  an  offering  of  your 
advice. 

Believe  me,  sir,  it  is  not  in  my  power 
to  render  you  my  thanks;  I think  too 
highly  of  myself  to  suppose  that  I stand 
at  all  in  need  of  your  admonitions;  and 
too  lightly  of  you  to  appreciate  them  as 
useful.  For  good  advice  I am  always 
thankful ; but  never  fail  to  spurn  it  when 
I know  it  to  flow  from  an  incompetent 
and  corrupt  source;  the  breast  where 
base  and  guilty  passions  dwell  is  not  the 
place  to  look  for  virtue  or  any  thing  that 
leads  to  virtue.  My  notions,  sir,  are 
not  those  now  taught  in  modern  schools, 
and  in  fashionable  high  life;  they  were 
imbibed  in  ancient  days,  and  hitherto 
have,  and  yet  bear  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  who  can  wantonly  outrage  the 
feelings  of  another — who  without  cause, 
can  extend  injury  where  none  is  done, 
is  capable  of  any  crime,  however  detest- 
able in  its  nature,  and  will  not  fail  to 
commit  it,  whenever  it  may  be  imposed 
by  necessity. 

I shall  not  stoop  to  a justification  of 
my  order  before  you,  or  to  notice  the 
weakness  and  absurdities  of  your  tinsel 
rhetoric;  it  may  be  quite  conclusive 
with  yourself,  and  I have  no  disposition 
to  attempt  convincing  you,  that  your 
ingenuity  is  not  as  profound  as  you 
have  imagined  it.  To  my  government 
whenever  it  may  please,  I hold  myself 
liable  to  answer,  and  to  produce  the 
reasons  which  prompted  me  to  the  course 
I took;  and  to  the  intermeddling  spies 
and  pimps  of  the  war  department,  who 
are  in  the  garb  of  gentlemen,  I hold 
myself  responsible  for  any  grievance 
they  may  labor  under  on  my  account, 
with  whom  you  have  my  permission  to 
number  yo*urself.  For  what  I have  said 
I offer  no  apology;  you  have  deserved 
it  all,  and  more,  were  it  necessary  to 
say  more.  I will  barely  remark  in  con- 
clusion, that  if  you  feel  yourself  aggrieved 
at  what  is  here  said,  any  communication 
from  you  will  meet  me  safely  at  this  place. 

I have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respect- 
fully, your  most  obedient  servant, 

Andrew  Jackson. 
Brevet  Major  Gen.  W.  Scott, 

U.  S.  Army,  New  York. 


To  this  letter  Gen.  Scott,  after  a delay 
of  one  month,  replied  as  follows : 

Gen.  Scott  to  Gen.  Jackson. 

Head  Quarters  1st  and  2>d  Military  Departments , 
New  York,  Jan.  2, 1817. 

Sir,; — Your  letter  of  the  3d  ultimo, 
was  handed  to  me  about  the  22d,  and 
has  not  been  read,  I might  say  thought 
of  since.  These  circumstances  will  show 
you  that  it  is  my  wish  to  reply  to  you 
“ dispassionately.” 

I regret  that  I cannot  accept  the  chal- 
lenge you  offer  me.  Perhaps  I may  be 
restrained  from  wishing  to  level  a pistol 
at  the  breast  of  a fellow  being  in  private 
combat,  by  a sense  of  religion ; but  lest 
this  motive  should  excite  the  ridicule  of 
gentlemen  of  liberal  habits  of  thinking 
and  acting,  I beg  leave  to  add,  that  I 
decline  the  honor  of  your  invitation  from 
patriotic  scruples.  [! !]  My  ambition  is 
not  that  of  Erostratus.  I should  think 
it  would  be  easy  for  you  to  console  your- 
self under  this  refusal,  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a few  epithets,  as  coward,  &c.,  to 
the  object  of  your  resentment,  and  I here 
promise  to  leave  you  until  the  next  war, 
to  persuade  yourself  of  their  truth. 

I have  the  honor  to  be, 

Ybur  ob’t  serv’t, 

Wineeld  Scott. 

To  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  Commanding 

Southern  Division  U.  S.  Army. 

In  this  letter  Gen.  Scott  alleges  two 
reasons  for  declining  to  accept  General 
Jackson’s  challenge : first,  “ a sense  of 
religion,”  and  second,  u patriotic  scru- 
ples.” We  are  not  disposed  to  object  to 
these  reasons  for  not  fighting.  Let  us 
see,  though,  if  Gen.  Scott  was  sincere 
in  professing  to  be  influenced  by  them, 
as  matters  of  principle.  v 

In  April  1819,  DeWitt  Clinton,  of 
New  York,  a talented  and  high-toned 
man,  made  the  following  publication  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  day  in  regard  to 
Gen.  Scott.  It  explains  itself. 

TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

Gen.  Scott,  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  having,  in  a letter  of  the  3d  Jan’y, 
1817,  to  Gen.  Jackson,  insinuated  that 
I had  written,  dictated  or  instigated  an 
anonymous  letter,  to  the  latter  gentle- 
man, for  unworthy  motives  and  improper 


46 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


purposes;  and  haying  also  concealed  the 
imputation  from  me  until  the  publication 
of  a pamphlet  which  reached  me  on  the 
4th  inst.,  I have  considered  it  proper  to 
declare,  that  I have  had  no  agency  or 
participation  in  writing,  dictating  or  in- 
stigating any  anonymous  letter  whatever 
to  Gen.  Jackson — and  that  I am  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  author — and  that  the 
intimation  of  Gen.  Scott  is  totally  and 
unqualifiedly  false  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses and  in  all  respects.  This  declara- 
tion is  made  from  motives  of  respect 
for  public  opinion,  and  not  for  any  regard 
for  Gen.  Scott,  whose  conduct  on  this 
occasion  is  such  a total  departure  from 
honor  and  propriety  as  to  render  him 
unworthy  of  the  notice  of  a man  who  has 
any  respect  for  himself. 

It  is  not  probable  that  I can  at  this 
time  have  any  recollection  of  having  had 
the  honor  of  seeing  Gen.  Scott  on  the 
9th  of  June,  1817,  at  a dinner  in  New 
York,  or  of  the  topic  of  conversation  as 
he  suggests;  circumstances  so  unimpor- 
tant are  not  apt  to  be  impressed  upon 
the  memory.  But  I feel  a confident 
persuasion  that  I did  not  make  use  of 
any  expressions  incompatible  with  the 
high  respect  which  I entertaip  for  Gen. 
.Jackson.  DeWitt  Clinton. 

Albany,  April  6th,  1819. 

After  this  publication  had  been  before 
this  country  a considerable  time,  DeWitt 
Clinton  was  elected  Governor  of  New 
York,  and  upon  his  inauguration  took  a 
public  oath,  of  the  most  binding  cha- 
racter, against  duelling — that  he  would 
not,  in  fact,  be  concerned,  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  any  duel.  As  soon  as 
Gov.  Clinton  had  taken  upon  himself 
this  oath  of  office,  Gen.  Scott  challenged 
him  to  fight  a duel , on  account  of  the 
above  publication,  knowing,  as  he  did, 
that  his  challenge  could  not  be  accepted 
without  perjury  on  the  part  of  Governor 
Ciinton.  In  this  instance,  it  seems,  “a 
sense  of  religion”  and  u patriotic  scru- 
ples” had  little  weight  with  Gen.  Scott. 
Under  the  circumstances,  Governor  Clin- 
ton gave. Gen.  Scott  the  only  reply  he 
could.  He  informed  him  that  he  would 
“ hold  his  challenge  under  advisement, 
until  he  (Scott)  should  settle  an  unad- 
justed difficulty  between  himsek  ana 
one  A.  Jackson. 


WHIG  EXTRAVAGANCE. 

Sixty  millions  of  dollars  a year ! Only 
think  of  it.  Nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  gold,  or  twenty-five  hundred 
tons  of  silver.  This  is  the  annual  expen- 
diture of  a whig  administration,  and  it 
is  truly  monstrous  to  contemplate.  Why, 
the  annual  expenditure  of  the  govern- 
ment would  load  a train  of  a hundred 
wagons  with  gold,  or  sixteen  hundred 
wagons  with  silver. — Two-thirds  of  the 
annual  product  of  California  cannot  more 
than  keep  the  treasury  supplied.  ■*  The 
cotton  crop  of  this  country  is  reckoned 
to  be  immense,  but  the  annual  expendi- 
ture of  the  federal  government  would 
swallow  up  the  whole  of  it.  Sixty  mil- 
lions gone,  consumed  and  sunk  in  a sin- 
gle year ! This  sum  would  educate  every 
youth,  male  and  female,  in  the  Union. 
It  would  build  three  thousand  miles  of 
railroad,  nearly  one-third  as  many  miles 
as  have  been  built  in  the  United  States 
up  to  this  time.  This  is  paying  too 
dearly  for  government,  as  it  would  require 
all  the  savings  of  nearly  half  a million 
of  day  laborers  to  support  the  govern- 
ment. It  is  time  that  a reform  was 
made  in  this  kind  of  extravagance. 

WHIG  PRINCIPLES. 

1.  A National  Monster  Bank,  to 
assimilate  us  to  monarchy. 

2.  A Bankrupt  Law  to  enable  specu- 
lators with  the  capital  of  others  to  escape 
the  payment  of  their  obligations. 

3.  A high-toned  executive  power, 
extinguishing  all  other  branches  of  go- 
vernment, and  subverting  the  rights  of 
the  states. 

4.  The  annexation  of  Canada,  to  over- 
balance and  destroy  the  South. 

5.  A high  protective  tariff,  for  the 
purpose  of  building  up  magnificent  esta- 
blishments for  a few,  at  the  expense  of 
the  many. 

6.  Expending  the  Treasury  without 
previous  acts  of  appropriation — in  direct 
violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  tinker- 
ing the  breach  by  deficiency  hills,  a most 
damnable  evasion  of  the  federal  charter. 

7.  Distribution  of  the  public  lands 
among  the  states,  in  order  to  diminish 
the  revenues  of  the  government,  and 
render  an  oppressive  tariff  necessary. 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


47 


8 A repeal  of  the  naturalization 
laws  in  “seasons  of  unusual  excite- 
ment," or  when  “ fired  with  indigna- 
tv  a,"  to  be  changed  to  a probation  of 
- year's  service  in  the  army  or  navy 
- time  of  war,  thus  creating,  at  a criti- 
„ moment,  an  immense  foreign  army. 

HORACE  GREELEY'S  OPINION 

Of  the  Whig  Platform  after  the  Nomination. 

Hence  our  emphatic  objection  to 
and  protest  against  a portion  of  the  so- 
called  “ Platform  of  Principles,"  set 
forth  at  the  Whig  National  Convention. 
They  were  never  intended  to  be  a state- 
ment of  the  grounds  whereon  the  whig 
party  is  united  and  the  ends  which  it 
unanimously  meditates.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  were  forced  upon  a portion 
of  the  delegates  in  full  view  of  the  fact 
that  they  did  not  express  their  convic- 
tions— were  driven  through  by  the  argu- 
ment of  menace  and  terror — were  ram- 
med down  by  the  potent  intimation, 
“ Swallow  in  silence  or  we  bolt !"  Yet 
in  the  face  of  every  entreaty  and  threat, 
sixty-six  of  the  delegates,  ( seventy  as  we 
count,)  voted  No  when  the  yeas  and 
nays  were  called  on  their  passage.  Here 
was  one-fourth  of  the  convention  whom 
not  even  the  imperiling  of  the  nomina- 
tion of  their  beloved  candidate,  and  the 
prospect  of  breaking  up  the  party,  could 
deter  from  protesting  against  the  gross 
wrong.  The  “Platform,"  therefore,  is 
not  that  of  the  entire  whig  party,  as 
the  records  of  the  convention  attest, 
but  that  of  a majority  only — a majority 
which  had  and  could  have  no  claim  to 
bind  any  who  dissent  from  their  decla- 
ration. We  are  of  that  sort  and  there 
are  many  more  such. 

ANOTHER  OPINION  OF  THE  SAME. 

The  National  Era,  the  metropolitan 
organ  of  abolitionism,  in  'its  comments 
on  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  whig 
convention  which  nominated  Gen.  Scott, 
says  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  slavery 
agitation : “ The  question  is  clearly  left 
open,  and  the  whig  resolutions  contem- 
plate two  ways  in  which  it  might  be 
legitimately  renewed;  in  one  for  the 
purpose  of  amending  the  law  so  as  to 


prevent  evasion;  in  the  other,  of  so 
amending  it  as  to  correct  abuse.  The 
opponents  and  supporters  of  the  law 
are  left  equally  at  liberty  to  agitate  this 
subject." 

In  commenting  on  these  remarks, 
the  Washington  Union  says : Such  is  the 
view  of  the  metropolitan  organ  of  aboli- 
tionism ; and  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  expression  which  furnishes  a 
foundation  for  this  view  was  not  in  the 
original  resolutions  presented  by  the 
southern  delegates.  And  it  should  be 
remembered,  also,  that  it  is  in  both 
versions.  The  Era  was  prompt  in  assail- 
ing General  Pierce ; but  as  yet  it  has  not 
uttered  a word  against  Gen.  Scott's  no- 
mination. And  inasmuch  as  it  believes 
that  the  whig  platform  gives  more  scope 
for  anti-slavery  agitation  than  the  demo- 
cratic platform  does,  we  presume  it  will 
urge  the  election  of  General  Scott,  if 
the  Pittsburgh  movement  should  prove 
a failure. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  GALPHINISM. 

The  difference  between  a Whig  and 
a Democratic  system  of  government 
cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by 
a comparison  of  the  relative  cost  of 
each. 

The  following  is  a statement  of  the 
annual  average  expenditures  of  the  sev- 
eral administrations  since  the  division  of 
parties  into  Whigs  and  Democrats  su- 
pervened the  old  divisions  into  Federal- 
ists and  Republicans. 

Jackson’s  administation  . . $27,585,896  39 

Van  Buren’s  “ . . 35,640,486  36 

Harrison  and  Tyler’s  “ . . 27,623,628  13 

Polk’s  “ . . 43,897,916  51 

Taylor  and  Fillmore’s !{  . . 55,442,481  00 

By  this  account  it  appears  that  the 
government  cost  the  people,  under  Jack- 
son's administration,  less  than  half  what 
it  has  thus  far  cost  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  President  Taylor,  both  being 
periods  of  peace. 

It  further  appears  that  we  are  now 
paying,  in  time  of  profound  peace,  about 
$20,000,000  more  for  our  government 
than  it  cost  us  under  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Yan  Buren,  when  the  Florida 
war  was  raging  at  4he  south,  and 
$12,000,000  more  than  it  cost  under  Mr. 
Polk's  administration,  when  the  govern- 


48 


DEMOCRATIC  TEXT  BOOK. 


ment  had  to  bear  the  enormous  expense 
of  the  Mexican  war  of  1847. 

Where  this  money  has  gone,  no  one 
can  tell;  or  rather  no  one  will  tell  that 
can.  Mr.'  Secretary  Crawford  ran  away 
with  a good  big  slice  of  it  allowed  him 
for  his  Galphin  claim ; Messrs.  Corwin 
and  Gardiner,  and  Waddy  Thompson 
and  their  cronies  have  another  large  slice 
obtained  from  the  treasury,  under  false 
pretences  with  forged  documents.  Gar- 
diner has  been  under  arrest  more  than  a 
year  for  his  crime,  - was  admitted  to  bail, 
and  is  now  taking  his  ease  in  England 
and  biting  his  thumb  at  the  administra- 
tion, knowing  full  well  that  they  dare 
not  pursue  him  with  rigor.  Meantime 
Mr.  Corwin  does  not  propose  to  return 
the  money  which  he  has  received  through 
this  fraud;  no  efforts  are  making  to  bring 
any  of  those  who  aided- Gardiner  in  his 
swindle  to  justice  ; nor  is  Mr.  Corwin 
ashamed  to  retain  his  place  as  secretary 
of  the  treasury.  • _ 

Another  snug  little  sum  has  gone  to 
pay  travelling  expenses  of  military  and 
naval  officers  to  and  from  and  up  and 
down  the  earth,  when’  they  wanted  to 
.take  their  families  to  the  Springs,  to 
Newport,  to  New  York,  or  to  any  other 
place  where  pleasure,  interest,  or  politics 
attracted  them,  and  did  not  want  to  pay 
for  their  enjoyment  out  of  their  own 
salaries.  It  is  astonishing  how  often  the 
fortifications  of  New  York  and  Long 
Island  Sound,  the  navy  yards  of  Brook- 
lyn, Norfolk,  Pensacola,  and  Portsmouth 
require  inspection  during  the  summer, 
when  the  military  or  naval  gentry  most 
desire  to  frolic  at  the  public  charge,  or 
in  the  winter,  when  they  think  the  health 
or  comfort  of  their  families  would  be 
promoted  by  a trip  to  a warmer  climate 
on  similar  terms. 

Then  there  are  a few  millions  paid 
out  yearly  to  steamboat  jobbers — the 
scandal  of  the  nation.  There  is  also  a 
wicked  facility  among  the  Whigs  in  al- 
lowing claims  upon  the  government. — 
Every  imaginable  change  that  can  be 
trumped  up,  no  matter  how  frequently 
rejected  by  previous  cabinet  ministers, 
are  allowed  to  partisans  and  friends  with- 
out a question. 

We  sicken  over  the  disgusting  cata- 


logue. . We  have  not  noted  one-tithe  of 
the  leakages  through  which  the  public 
treasure  is  wasting  under  the  profligate 
administration  of  the  present  govern- 
ment; but  it  is  not  necessary  to  multi- 
ply evidences.  The  fact  is,  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  the  Whigs  make  laws 
and  conduct  the  government  are  radically 
unsound,  and  lead  inevitably  to  precisely 
the  extravagance  and  corruption  we  have 
described.  A government  under  which 
Galphinism  did  not  thrive,  or  was  not 
connived  at,  would  not  be  supported  by 
the  whig  politicians,  and  the  economical 
notions  of  the  democratic  party,  sus- 
tained by  a strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution,  are  precisely  the  notions 
which  prevent  the  Whigs  from  ever 
lending  any  party  support  to  a demo- 
cratic administration. 

CLAY  01  MILITARY  CHIEFTAINS. 

From  F celebrated  speech  delivered  in  Baltimore. 

Regardless  of  all  imputations,  and 
proud  of  the  opportunity  of  free  and 
unrestrained  intercourse  with  all  my 
fellow-citizens,  if  it  were  physically  pos- 
sible, and  compatible  with  my  official 
duties,  I would  visit  every  state,  go  to 
every  town  and  hamlet,  address  every 
man  in  the  Union,  and  entreat  them,  by 
their  love  of  country,  by  their  love  of 
liberty,  for  the  sake  of  themselves  and 
their  posterity — in  the  name  of  their 
venerated  ancestors,  in  the  name  of  the 
human  family,  deeply  interested  in  the 
fulfilment  of  the  trust  committed  to 
their  hands — by  all  the  past  glory  which 
we  have  won — by  all  that  awaits  us  as 
a nation — if  we  are  true  and  faithful  in 
gratitude  to  Him  who  has  hitherto  so 
signally  blessed  us-^-to  pause — solemnly 
pause— -and  contemplate  the  precipice 
which  yawns  before  us ! If,  indeed,  we 
have  incurred  the  divine  displeasure, 
and  it  be  necessary  to  chastise  this  peo- 
ple with  the  rod  of  his  vengeance,  I 
would  humbly  prostrate  myself  before 
Him  and  implore  his  mercy,  to  visit 
our  favored  land  with  war , with  pesti- 
lence. with  famine , with  any  scourge 
other  than  military  rule,  or  a blind  and 
heedless  enthusiasm  for  mere  military 
renown. 


